The article reviewed today in simple terms makes the case for road tolls as likely the only sustainable way to reduce congestion – which in the U.S. cost 4.8 billion hours in time wasted in the year 2010. It all comes down to more efficient use of roads and the traffic that uses them.
Key Quotes:
“Too many drivers trying to access a roadway at the same time – in economic speak, excess demand for a good in fixed supply – causes congestion”
“When there’s no traffic, adding new drivers to a roadway does not reduce travel times.. once a highway becomes congested, adding more cars to the road does not increase the number of cars the road carries”
“The demand for highway transportation represents the value that consumers place on traveling at a particular time, in particular manner and to their particular places”
“The lower the cost of driving, the more people drive. This means drivers taking longer trips or more trips as costs decrease.”
“When roads are free, the only cost to drive is time. Once a roadway approaches congestion, each additional driver impacts all other drivers, slowing them down and costing them time”
“Congestion pricing solves this problem. You put tolls in place and time is exchanged for money. People who value their trip less than the toll price won’t make the trip”
“Congestion pricing would also be good for transit. Bus service is priced in hours, not distance, so reducing the amount of time buses spend in traffic would reduce the cost of operating the same level of service”
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