Congestion pricing offers relief through the use of variable road tolls determined by the amount of traffic at any particular time. Such policies work because they give drivers a financial incentive not to drive during peak traffic hours. This report demonstrates that existing congestion pricing programs effectively reduce traffic congestion and bring about significant economic and environmental benefits. Furthermore, it reveals that the leading cause of congestion is a mismanagement of California's highways, and recommends policies that promote congestion pricing throughout the state. Traffic congestion has high economic costs.
Traffic congestion has high environmental costs.
The California Air Resources Board estimates that emissions are 250 percent higher under congested conditions than during free-flowing traffic, directly tying congestion to air quality. The Express Lanes run parallel to the heavily congested State Route 91, and use electronic toll technology to collect tolls from over 25,000 commuters daily. Recently conducted polls from the California Polytechnic Institute in San Luis Obispo show that over 60 percent of residents in the area approve of the project. Studies show congestion pricing would work elsewhere in California as well. A 1991 Environmental Defense Fund report estimates that an electronically collected variable fee for vehicle miles traveled throughout the Los Angeles Area would reduce total vehicle miles traveled by 4.8 percent annually and reduce reactive organic emissions, carbon monoxide emissions, nitrogen oxide emissions, and carbon dioxide emissions by 8.2 percent, 12.1 percent, 8.4 percent, and 9.2 percent, respectively.