Am I missing the Link?

I have been eagerly watching the development of the EastLink project. No, I am not a car-spotter looking for new vantage positions but it will (or should) cut down travel time for me for things such as picking up and dropping my kids off as well as coming back from work (getting to work by car will always be a nighmare even if it does not compare with the M25 in London). It will also make it easier and quicker for us to get to the beach.

Eastlink will be a tollway and in theory I don't have a problem with that. On paper, the prices look reasonable compared to CityLink (where you pay for even thinking about travelling on it); or the tolls in Sydney, where not only you pay through the roof for even the smallest distance AND getting lost in the process but the infrastructure is technologically challenged (4 or 5 out of 6 lanes are pay stations accepting cash and no e-tag).

EastLink has (in theory) a structure with some reasoning behind it: you pay more for popular junctions/exists and less for the quieter ones. But it's the following fact that caused this post.

In a recent publication for the "East Link Open Day" last week (an oxymoron because it's not open yet...), the toll pricess per exit are displayed in a nice picture of a map. At one end of the picture there is a note: Prices for the year 2007 to 2008.

Now, let's think about this for a minute... The freeway is still under construction! Doh!... It is scheduled to open 'late 2008'. What are the chances of a. the project finishing on time and b. the prices not going up in 2008?...

Am I chronologically and financially challenged or are they?

By the time the freeway opens late 2008, the advertised toll prices will be around 10 months out of date. Then, we will probably cop another increase for the year 2009.

To add to the insult, the online toll calculator says: "Amount in 1 July 2006 dollars" - as if most of us would have assumed Yen, Pesos or Britidh Pounds. And what about July 2006???

So really we have no idea what the prices would be like. Love it.