San Jose Mercury News, August 8, 1997

As Bay Area drivers continue to waste more time stuck in traffic, high-tech solutions promise some relief. Electronic toll systems, which have already reduced congestion in New York and Southern California, have finally arrived in the Bay Area and could breath new life into old congestion relief policies.

For now, the Bay Area’s only electronic toll system is still in a trial stage. The program runs on the Carquinez Bridge and is limited to 200 vehicles from businesses and government agencies in the Vallejo area. So far, users are enthusiastic. In three to four weeks, all drivers will be able to use the system.

The electronic toll lanes save commuters time and reduce congestion because cars do not have to stop to manually pay a toll. To use the new lanes, drivers purchase an electronic card that attaches to the inside of their windshield. They pay a fee of forty dollars or more, and as they drive through the electronic toll lane, sensors read the card and deduct the toll amount from the driver’s account. By next spring, similar "FasTrak" lanes will also be installed on the Bay, Richmond-San Rafael, Antioch, Benicia-Martinez bridges.

The early success and popularity of the electronic toll system brings up new issues for the old debate about congestion pricing. Congestion pricing refers to the policy of varying road prices with the amount of traffic. For example, toll bridges might require a higher toll during rush hour, or a crowded commuter highway might offer an express lane for cars that are willing to pay an added toll. Similar pricing methods have been successfully used by long distance phone companies, airlines, and movie theaters who charge more for popular times of use.

While the prospect of more tolls makes most commuters flinch, congestion pricing offers a sound solution to a worsening situation around the Bay. Currently, only Seattle and Los Angeles have greater traffic problems, and only Washington DC has a higher percentage of congested rush hour traffic. According to last month’s Caltrans report, Bay Area commuters wasted 90,000 hours per day due to traffic in 1996. This amount represents a 31 percent jump from 1995, translating into an annual loss of $210 million in productivity.

The major cause of traffic backup is too many single-occupant vehicles on limited freeway space during peak hours. Congestion pricing, an idea promoted by environmentalists, economists, and a growing number of policy makers, offers financial incentive carpool, use transit alternatives, telecommute, or wait until a noncongested time to make a trip. Less gasoline and reduced vehicle operating costs save individuals money as well.

Not only does congestion pricing save commuters time and save businesses millions, it has environmental benefits as well. Fewer vehicles and less time spent stalled in traffic means fewer emissions and less gasoline use. The EPA reports that "on-road" vehicles account for 53 percent of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, 64 percent of nitrogen oxide emissions, and 82 percent of carbon monoxide emissions. These pollutants cause adverse health effects such as decreased lung capacity and increased heart disease.

Congestion pricing is not a new idea. In 1993, the Bay Area Congestion Pricing Task Force estimated that a peak toll increase to $3 would reduce congestion by 40 percent and save commuters an average of eight minutes each day.

Although the California legislature never passed authorizing legislation for the Bay Area, toll lanes have been implemented in Southern California and work well. The California Private Transportation Co. in Orange County has built a privately owned and operated toll road that costs $2.75 per trip. 24,000 daily commuters use this electronic toll road to avoid the congested state route 91. The toll road benefits nonpaying commuters as well because there are 24,000 less cars on the freeway.

The new high-tech tolls could be used to reduce congestion throughout the Bay. The plan to build a new eastern span of the Bay Bridge offers an ideal opportunity for an electronic congestion pricing program. Commuters will ineviabely have to pay higher tolls to cover construction costs. Unlike a flat toll raise, a congestion toll would help pay for the new bridge and reduce congestion for the 140,000 daily commuters between Oakland and San Francisco.

The fact is that the roads simply cannot keep up with Bay Area’s growth. Electronic tolls work well and could further reduce traffic backup by using them for optional toll lanes or congestion pricing where tolls already exist.

Erin Schiller is a Public Policy Fellow at the Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco.