The Seattle area is getting the first serious proposal to dramatically alter traffic congestion, fund transportation projects and limit pollution.
Drivers would pay a fee, depending on congestion, to use all freeways from Everett to Lakewood. The proposal would provide the first monetary incentives to use transit, carpool or limit trips. Some initial reaction is here.
Why does it make sense? Because the region can’t possibly build its way out of congestion. The only way to accommodate growth is a combination of changing habits and building new infrastructure. Criticism of the very idea completely misses that point.
Comments
7 responses to “Why try tolls? Because they work”
I agree that tolls are a smart, market-oriented solution that should be implemented, but they will face stiff resistance if they are implemented without the presence of viable alternative choices. If tolls are merely placed onto the existing road network without giving people a serious alternative for their commute, traffic volumes will not decline much and commuters will protest loudly at what will be effectively an added cost without any benefit to them. To achieve their full benefit, the tolls need to be implemented as part of a capacity expansion plan that gives commuters a choice between the old, congested commute and a new, faster but more expensive one.
One possible solution that provides this crucial element of choice is to convert only some lanes of a highway to toll lanes, leaving others free (and more heavily congested by drivers seeking to travel on the cheap).
Agreed. Check out this entry on the subject: http://www.cascadiareport.com/cascadia_report/2007/04/start_tolling_o.html
I think Jeff is referring to variable toll pricing. Each lane gets their own dynamic price and that price varies depending on time of day, congestion, etc. I 15 in San Diego has implemented such systems. BTW, a quick Google search found this site :
http://tollroadsnews.info
Who knew toll roads were so popular
I don’t like congestion pricing because that would require me to put something in my car that would allow me to be tracked by big brother. Instead of congestion pricing, I like the idea of having your car tabs be priced based on the number of miles you drive in a year. I consider the tracker that would need to be installed to be an invasion of privacy and haven’t we already lost enough privacy and rights with all the stuff the a-hole of a president we have has done?
But how should those miles be tracked?
We all have to get emissions tests every 2 years. The person that does the test checks the milage now so it would not add any overhead to the emissions process. In in the year that you do not get checked, the state could use the previous years milage data and can estimate for the year. And when the car is taken in for emissions the next year, there would be an adjustment made based on the milage recorded during the emissions test.
Now I don’t have all the answers but this is better, at least I think so, then big brother knowing when and where I am driving. While it does not have the same affects congestion pricing, it does allow the user to pay based on how much they use. This is the same reason I like the gas tax. Don’t want to pay it, don’t drive.