Image via WikipediaCongestive Traffic Failure: The Case for High-Occupancy and Express Toll Lanes in Canadian Cities (9 page pdf, Benjamin Dachis, C.D. Howe Institute, Aug. 31, 2011)Also discussed here: Think Tank proposes HOT lanes for Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal (Road Pricing, Nov. 2, 2011)
The difficulty on introducing tolls as urban cities become more and more clogged with traffic is addressed in the report reviewed today which suggests high-occupancy toll ( HOT) lanes for Canada’s five largest cities. HOT lanes could generate more than $1 B/ year in much needed net revenue in these cities where congestion costs more than $5 Billion or $410 per capita pm average.
Key Quotes:
“Canada’s urban highways are choked with congestion because road access is free and scarce road space is occupied by drivers who wait, albeit grumpily, in traffic”
“governments have chosen to build carpool lanes on urban highways, despite evidence that these lanes have limited effectiveness in curbing congestion”
“Governments should instead convert existing and planned carpool lanes to high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, giving drivers a choice of whether to use them or free lanes.. improve travel time reliability, increasehighway capacity and potentially reduce congestion on un-tolled lanes”
“congestion in Vancouver cost C$927 million per annum ..which comes to C$466 per capita”
“allowing vehicles to use the network by paying a toll akin to C$0.23 per km at peak times and half that at the off peak - to match the Toronto 407 toll road rates.. would generate C$81 million per annum in revenue.”
“taxes on fuel and ownership only cover 53% of road infrastructure costs”
“The political dilemma of pricing what were previously free lanes has hitherto stymied road toll proposals. By preserving a non-toll option, HOT and express lanes provide the solution. They can achieve the benefits of road pricing, while still being politically palatable, since drivers have the choice to drive for free in adjacent lanes”
Related articles
- Slugging: Bringing Casual Carpooling to the North Bay (thegreatermarin.wordpress.com)
- HOT lanes' first rush hour Monday (ajc.com)
- State's HOT lane request denied by feds (ajc.com)
- 100,000th Peach Pass issued for controversial HOT lanes (ajc.com)
- Atlanta traffic: HOT lanes mostly empty on first commute (ajc.com)
- Gov. Deal lowers HOT lane fees for I-85 in Gwinnett (ajc.com)
- Most wouldn't use high-occupancy lanes (autonetinsurance.co.uk)
- Canadians willing to pay road tolls, poll suggests (cbc.ca)
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