Council of Governments Asks the Internet to Name LBJ Toll Lanes. Because That Always Works

If you've been up that ways in the past year, you might have noticed that they're doing some work on LBJ. But, as the video above tells you, it's not just any old work. They're transforming the tired old freeway into the LBJ Express, by which they mean they're adding...

By Eric Nicholson

September 25, 2012

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If you've been up that ways in the past year, you might have noticed that they're doing some work on LBJ. But, as the video above tells you, it's not just any old work. They're transforming the tired old freeway into the LBJ Express, by which they mean they're adding a handful of managed lanes.

The problem is that non-transportation engineers don't really know what a managed lane is. So, the North Central Texas Council of Governments is looking for a title that better encompasses what they are but is snazzier and preferably shorter than three-or-more-people-can-ride-free-but-if-your-car-has-two-or-fewer-occupants-you-have-to-pay-a-toll-that-varies-based-on-time-of-day-and-congestion lanes, and they're asking the Internet to come up with one. That's right. That Internet.

The regional planning agency announced yesterday its Name the Lanes contest in which one randomly selected individual will win a $2,500 gas card for sending in a suggestion. There are rules, of course. The suggestions can't use obscene or vulgar language or defame a third party, not that the Internet would ever do such a thing.

The question remains: will the submissions be purely descriptive (The Clusterfucks); cheeky (The El BJs), or simply hyperbolic (The Ninth Circle)? Only time will tell what gems will emerge.

The contest goes to Nov. 4, which is like a few millenia in Internet years, plenty of time for folks to come up with all sorts of suggestions

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