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But instead of calling it 'universal tolling,' we should call it 'congestion pricing,' which is progressive-sounding, and reduces any negative vibe.
As more people drive electric cars, gas tax revenue declines. Congestion pricing solves this problem. We have the technology to do it.
I'd propose a swift and sure transition--say universal tolling by Jan 2021, so that the naysayers don't have time to put on a big whine-fest. It could be made part of Nancy Pelosi's proposed infrastructure package.
In Washington State, we have been running a pilot project of 'pay per mile' rather than 'pay per gallon.' It has been a big success. Seattle's first openly lesbian mayor, Jenny Durkan, has already started to explore implementing congestion pricing in the city. The aim is to use it as a way to address climate change.
Quote:
the mayor’s office acknowledges that SDOT has already “started work to assess the potential benefits of establishing a congestion pricing program” and adds $1 million to the budget to “support the second phase of this work.”
“Congestion pricing can be an effective strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions...."
The key would be to make it UNIVERSAL. Every highway, road, street, tunnel, bridge, and even alley-way would be tolled. The Scandinavians has long had 'universalism' as a key element of the Nordic economic model. To recycle an analogy from another thread, if a program is not universal, those who don't buy in end up being like a beetle in an ant colony, causing nothing but problems. What do you think?
BTW, Uber and Lyft are both already on board with Mayor Durkan's idea. If people have to pay by the mile anyway, why not let someone else do the driving?
Remember, some experts are saying we only have 12 years left to do something about climate change. This would be a HUGE step towards that.
Impossible to toll every road. If you want to argue we need to change the way we fund roads there are good arguments to make but it would be impossible to toll every road.
Why? Because you live in a state with european sized roads and "American" sized buildings? Blame Southern California for the proportions of the majority of America's modern buildings. Even with wide highways and roadways congestion is still insufferable for that ****hole. Maybe America needn't build everything so god damn big in the first place.
London has found that it has cut traffic by 30%. The advanced cities of the world are already moving ahead on this! A universal implementation would ensure that no one would be left behind in the US.
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What is working GREAT in Austin, is having a variable toll rate lane in ONE lane in the most congested north south running highway - Loop 1. (Which isn't a loop, actually, but that's a topic for another discussion).
The very left most lane is a toll road and the price varies depending on the traffic conditions, and it's posted on an electronic billboard over the toll road entrance. Varies from 30 cents, to a high of about 15 dollars. And yes, you'll pay that if you have to be somewhere.
It was devised to allow free travel for emergency vehicles - because during many times of the day, traffic was at a standstill and keeping emergency vehicles stuck in traffic could be deadly.
So anyway. The coolest, and unpredicted positive outcome is that when you have a speedy tollway lane, you divert all the crazy drivers who are switching lanes constantly, stop start rush rush rush, off the highway and are left with the patient careful drivers. The smallish number of drivers diverted off the free lanes doesn't account for how much better - and less congested - the free lanes have become.
(Which, frankly, I've always suspected. It's the erratic, irritated drivers causing the problem in the first place).
London has found that it has cut traffic by 30%. The advanced cities of the world are already moving ahead on this! A universal implementation would ensure that no one would be left behind in the US.
They also have viable alternatives to the car transportation networks.
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