How, oh how, do we reduce congestion? That is the one question that public officials, policy-makers, and commuters throughout the D.C. have been wrestling with for as long as we can remember. The answers proposed have reflected the diversity of the people asking the question: wider roads, more transit, denser housing, bike lanes, pedestrian-friendly streets, all of the above… You name it, and it’s been put on the table at one point or another.
A week ago, the Government Accountability Office, purveyor of all things dry and wonkish, came out with a report arguing that tolls might be the best way to reduce congestion on our roads.
A toll or surcharge … would create incentives for drivers to shift their travel to periods of lower demand, use other roads, or make other adjustments, when the costs of their decision to drive during congested periods exceed the benefits they receive
With High Occupancy Toll lanes, or HOT lanes, already slated for much of the Beltway, in addition to I-95 and the InterCounty Connector, what’s the real deal with the tolls? Are they an effective traffic management tool, or just a ruse to sap drivers of more coin?
Photo by Slinger5
