Congestion pricing is based on the simple idea that charging people to drive during peak traffic times will reduce congestion and promote other ways of getting around. It's a controversial topic among engineers and planners, with only some of them believing it actually works. Yet they all agree traffic is bad and getting worse.
But there is an upside to traffic. According to the Wall Street Journal, it might even be good for the environment.
When drivers continuously face traffic jams produced by traffic congestion -- with or without fees like those London adopted -- they feel more compelled to embrace mass transit and other ways of getting around. The reason is simple: They get fed up with traffic. That has an inherent environmental impact over driving.
Oh sure, your car may not spew much CO2, but you are one of thousands on the road. As the Environmental Protection Agency has stated, "Emissions from an individual car are generally low, relative to the smokestack image many people associate with air pollution. But in numerous cities across the country, the personal automobile is the single largest polluter, as emissions from millions of vehicles on the road add up." Compared to a car carrying one person, a bus, train or a trolley full of passengers uses less energy per commuter. This effectively lowers the carbon emissions for the entire commute.
Charging drivers for their commute makes sense on paper: Having to pay for the privilege of sitting in traffic often prompts people to use alternatives that also consume less energy. But is that actually happening? The answer to that is mixed. The Journal noted a 10 percent decrease in peak travel times in Atlanta (where the photo was taken) and 22 percent in Houston. But in Minnesota, the Journal reported, ramp metering -- the process of using a signal light to regulate when cars get on the road -- increased overall traffic volume by 9 percent and peak volume by 14 percent. The increase in traffic volume was accompanied by an increase in fuel consumption of 5.5 million gallons.
Even though some of the study results show a disconnect between congestion pricing and commuting, people are starting to use alternative forms of travel. The Washington Post reports transit ridership has hit its highest level in 52 years. Commuting patterns are changing regardless of whether drivers are paying more for their commute through tolls or rising fuel prices. To handle these changes, we need new infrastructure to accommodate this growth in alternative forms of commuting.
Whether our commute has been affected by a congestion-pricing model, high gas prices or a poorly designed traffic system, the original idea remains: Charging drivers to use their car for the daily commute is good for traffic, alternative transportation and the environment.
Photo: Flickr / FLC
