We have had high occupancy vehicle lanes for a while here in Atlanta but have now moved to dynamic pricing to reflect the perceived value associated with shorter times on Interstate 85. This highway is about six lanes wide on each side in many areas, but it still congests to a standstill during morning and evening rush hours.
I never use those toll lanes even when the traffic is at a standstill. There is something just wrong in my mind paying $5-10 to save ten minutes or so, but it tickles me to see them grind to a halt as well … with no refunds for the fact that too many people are in them.
These lanes are called Lexus lanes by the locals because that is the typical car brand that uses them. We drive a Lexus but don’t use the lanes. I might feel different if I were trying to get to work or had some time dependent issue, but it just galls me to think how much people are spending for convenience.
Maybe I am just out of touch because Disney just announced “Lightning Lanes” that give patrons no-wait access to rides and attractions, thereby avoiding the lines. I stopped taking my kids to Disney because we spent half the day in lines, so I guess this makes sense, until you realize the surcharge is $300-400 a day per person for this privilege.
Why is it that Disney gets a pass on things like this when they are under the gun by the woke gang to eliminate so many characters that are the bedrock of the Disney stories we grew up liking. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is under fire for obvious reasons as are many other wonderful stories from our childhood.
How can society say it wants affordability, equity, and inclusion then encourage class discrimination like this? Plus, where is the moral outrage by those who can afford these fees to the obvious price gauging since there is no way this privilege costs Disney this amount. This is clearly pricing for the perceived value of convenience and not reflecting the costs of providing the service.
If you only have a few hours in the park, this makes some sense but fails on so many other levels in my opinion. But perhaps there is something to be learned here for the electric power industry. We have priced electricity based upon the costs it incurs to provide it. Is there a market for premium power choices, and possibly for better reliability? If so, can utilities who have been regulated to keep prices in line with costs charge for something that may just reflect value rather than incurred costs?
It seems especially odd to me that the trend these days is to avoid price transparency … the push to advanced electric rates seems to have stalled at the alter of convenience. If you can’t recover costs for this, why not pursue the path of pricing for the convenience people are seeking.
Lots to think about, and possibly some concrete lessons to learn from Disney. Let’s see.