Congestion Pricing

 

• What is Congestion Pricing about?
• Will we have to pay at toll booths?
• _______________________________?
• Isn't congested traffic just part of everyday life?
• Wouldn't tolls push traffic onto neighborhood streets?
• We've already paid for the roads.
• Why not just raise the gas tax?
• Isn't this an invasion of privacy?
• What is a HOT lane?
• If people can use the carpool lanes by paying, won't they quit carpooling?
• Isn't this giving an advantage to the wealthy?

Congestion Pricing is about managing congestion.

The point is not just to impose tolls, but to use tolls selectively to reduce traffic on congested highways during peak travel times. During the evening rush, 25% or more of the cars on the road are not people coming home from work. A peak-period toll would encourage some of these discretionary travelers to make their trips off-peak, or to use less congested routes. Because congestion grows exponentially as roads near capacity, even a small reduction in the number of cars on the road can substantially reduce congestion-related delays and crashes.

There are no toll booths.

Electronic toll collection, usually through an inexpensive windshield-mounted transponder, is a mature technology in use throughout the world. Tolls are subtracted from a debit card in the transponder—no record is kept of who travels where. All this is done at normal driving speeds - manual toll booths would stop traffic and thus miss the whole point of using congestion pricing, which is to make traffic move faster.

Congestion Pricing complements transit and highway expansion.

Selective tolls used alone can reduce traffic during peak periods, but their effectiveness can be greatly enhanced when the revenues are used to improve the system by improving transit and other options, and by highway expansion where appropriate. By providing a financial incentive to use transit, peak-period tolls could provide both a revenue source and a market for transit, neither of which might be as firm otherwise. And by creating a source of location-specific funding, tolls could accelerate the construction of highway expansions that otherwise could be delayed for years waiting for funding.

It won’t work. People have to drive during congested times, otherwise they wouldn’t put up with it.

Actually 25% or more of the cars on the road during the peak hour are not commuting. The positive impact of pricing would come from a combination of some of these discretionary trips moving to other times, and some drivers shifting to other routes, carpooling, or riding the bus. Pricing can only work well when there are good alternatives available; this is why at least some of the revenue from pricing should go to support improved transit service in the affected corridor.

Wouldn’t tolls push traffic onto neighborhood streets?

This issue will vary depending on the unique characteristics of the project. It may be necessary to include traffic calming strategies in addition to transit improvement strategies. But without pricing, neighborhood streets can still be clogged with people trying to bypass unexpected congestion. One advantage of pricing might be that people change modes or time of travel, so that there will be fewer cars to start with, and potentially less need for local diversion.

We’ve already paid for the roads.

The gas tax typically does not even cover the costs of ongoing maintenance of roads, let alone raise enough money for needed expansions and new roads. As a result, a substantial percentage of the costs of building and maintaining roads comes from sources such as property and sales taxes, where payments are completely unrelated to how much one actually drives. Money raised by congestion tolls could be used to replace these non-transportation taxes.

Why not just raise the gas tax?

Raising the gas tax would generate more revenue, but would not have the other beneficial effects of congestion pricing. The point of congestion pricing is to reduce problematic trips, specifically those on congested roads. Raising the gas tax might have a small impact on the total amount of driving people do, but would probably have a relatively bigger impact on off-peak recreational trips. The overall effect would be to reduce traffic at times that weren’t congested to start with, while leaving peak period congestion largely unchanged. A longer term problem is that within a few years, many vehicles may not run on traditional fuels, and could end up paying no tax at all.

This seems like an invasion of privacy.

Transponders with embedded money work essentially as cash; the toll is deducted from the transponder itself and no record is kept of the transaction. However, this requires that the transponder is kept "loaded" with money. A newer and possibly more convenient option (used in Australia) uses license plate recognition to identify users, and bills are paid through credit cards or other means. In this case, a record is kept of trips; however, technical and legal constraints can guarantee that this information is not used for purposes other than billing.

What is a HOT lane?

The phrase "High Occupancy Toll lane" refers to a situation where solo drivers are allowed to buy access to special lanes that are free for carpools and buses. This is the most common current application of congestion pricing in the U.S. In the case of SR 91 in California, the lanes were designed to be operated this way. In other cases, this technique has been used to more efficiently use space on existing but underused carpool lanes.

But if people can use the carpool lanes by paying, won’t they quit carpooling?

Exactly the opposite has occurred on I-15 and SR 91 in California. When variable pricing went into effect, more people switched to carpools. Seemingly, seeing a price attached to the road made people feel that carpooling was a better "deal."

Isn’t this just giving an advantage to rich people?

The reality based on experience with California projects is that people of all income levels use these lanes, but very few people use them every day. The tolls are typically in the range of $2 -$4. Almost anyone can afford this on the occasional days that they are in a particular hurry; on other days they simply use the regular lanes.