The USDOT Congestion Pricing Program: A New Era for Congestion Management Patrick DeCorla-Souza, AICP Federal Highway Administration Presentation at Congestion Pricing Discovery Workshop Los Angeles, CA June 27, 2008
Overview Why congestion pricing? Congestion pricing examples US DOT s congestion pricing program
Why Congestion Pricing? Tolling Purpose to generate revenue Flat tolls Congestion pricing Purpose to manage demand Tolls vary Results in a range of benefits
1. Economic Efficiency Costs of highway use: Internal vehicle operation costs External congestion, pollution, accidents, climate change Drivers not faced with external costs Leads to overuse, congestion, and increased social costs
Construction Costs for Adding Urban Freeway Lanes vs. Gas Tax Per mile For 10- mile trip For 20-mile round trip Construction cost/ lane $15 M. $150 M. $300 M. Daily traffic volume in peak periods (5-6 hours/day) 10,000 vehicles 10,000 vehicles 10,000 vehicles Const. cost per vehicle $1,500 $15,000 $30,000 Gas tax per vehicle $0.02 $0.20 $0.20 Present value of gas taxes paid over 30 years $62 $620 $1,240
How Congestion Pricing Works Variable toll reflects actual marginal social cost Some will shift to using substitutes Transit Carpool Travel at less busy times Telework
2. System Efficiency
Bottleneck on I-405 Northbound
5-minute volumes and speeds on bottleneck on I-405 northbound Time Speed VMT Volume 6:00am 59 4683 511 6:20am 52 4969 543 6:45am 36 4564 498 7:10am 7:45am 9:15am 6:00am 6:20am 6:45am 7:10am 7:45am 31 23 4180 3632 456 396 9:15am 32 4149 453 Performance decreases with high travel demand: 56% drop in speed 27% drop in throughput
Vehicle Throughput on I-405 6000 September 10, 2007 UnCongested VMT Congested VMT Failure VMT 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 VMT 0:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00
Aggregate System-Level Delay 5000 Sep. 10 2007(Worst Monday) Oct. 8 2007 (Columbus Monday) 4500 4000 AM Peak 47.7% 3500 3000 PM Peak 37.1% 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 Entire Day 39.4% 0 Hours of Delay for Entire Network 0:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 24:00
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Delay per Vehicle per Mile Sep. 10 2007(Worst Monday) Oct. 8 2007 (Columbus Monday) Minutes of Delay per Vehicle per Mile 0:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 Sep. 10 2007 (Worst Monday) AM Peak PM Peak Entire Day 4.1 Minutes 3.0 Minutes 1.7 Minutes Oct. 8 2007 (Columbus Monday) 2.1 Minutes 1.8 Minutes 1.1 Minutes % Change 49% 40% 35%
System-Level Benefits A 3.2% reduction in AM peak period demand on Columbus Day results in: 39% reduction in aggregate daily delay (all vehicles) 35% decrease in minutes of delay per vehicle per mile Roughly the same total system VMT (i.e., vehicle throughput)
3. Market Signals for Investment Congestion-based toll rates measure people s willingness to pay and value they place on the service High toll rates signal the need for investment in additional capacity Leads to efficient level of investment
4. New Travel Options Pricing stimulates the development of viable alternatives: Transit better service reliability and frequency, may be financed by toll revenues Carpooling/vanpooling monetary incentives to share the ride Employers encouraged to offer telecommuting/ flexible hours
Summary of Benefits Congestion pricing achieves: 1. Economic efficiency 2. System efficiency 3. Market signals for investment 4. New travel options
Other Benefits New source of funding Environmental benefits Energy savings Long-term growth in GDP Allows fine-tuning to maximize use of limited capacity
Overview Why congestion pricing? Congestion pricing examples US DOT s congestion pricing programs
Managed Lanes San Diego Minneapolis Houston Denver Seattle Salt Lake City
Graduated Toll Rates: San Diego Evening Period Northbound $4.00 $3.00 $2.00 $1.00 $0.75 3:00-3:30 3:30-4:00 4:00-4:30 4:30-5:00 5:00-5:30 5:30-6:00 6:00-6:30 6:30-7:00 Maximum Toll Schedule for I-15 HOT Lanes, San Diego, California
Managed Highways
Tolls Rates on Singapore Expressways Toll rates Increase 45 kph 65 kph Decrease Charges vary from 50 cents to $2.50
Cordon Pricing - Stockholm
Stockholm Cordon
Stockholm Toll Rates
Overview Why congestion pricing? Congestion pricing examples US DOT s congestion pricing programs: Projects underway Studies
USDOT Pricing Programs Since 1991: Congestion Pricing and Value Pricing Pilots: More than 70 funded projects Since 2005: HOT Lanes and Express Lanes programs Urban Partnership Agreements (UPA) 27 applicants, 4 funded Congestion Reduction Demonstration (CRD) 30 applicants, 2 funded
UPA and CRD Programs Direct user charges that vary with level of demand Support strategies: Transit Technology: Multimodal traveler information Active traffic management and operations
Urban Partners Seattle Minneapolis -St. Paul San Francisco Chicago Los Angeles Miami
Urban Partners Managed Lanes: Miami: Convert HOV-2 to HOT-3 Minneapolis: Shoulder to HOT-2 Los Angeles: HOV-3 and HOV-2 to HOT-3
Urban Partners Managed Highways: Seattle: Convert free bridge to variably tolled San Francisco: Convert free road to variably tolled Area Pricing: Chicago: Variably priced curb parking in CBD San Francisco: Variably priced parking in CBD
Recent Studies
HOT Network in Washington DC Annual revenue: $1.5 to $2.8 billion annually Capital cost recovery: 43% to 48%
Pricing All Roads in Seattle, WA Present value of revenues = $87 B
Area Pricing in New York City Annual net revenue: $500 million Dedicated to transit
Freeway Network Pricing Los Angeles Metropolitan Area 6.0 Annual toll revenue: $5.5 B 5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 Current fuel tax 1.0 receipts: Metro area = $1.9 B 0.0 Revenue Fuel tax Billion dollars annually * Source: Transportation Research Board Paper 08-0182
Public Opinion Surveys Managed Lanes: 60-70% approval from all income groups Managed Highways: Seattle: 64-74% approval for new tolls on currently free SR 520 bridge Area Pricing: New York City: 60% approval (67% approval in City Council vote)
Summary Congestion pricing has many benefits Operates successfully worldwide Bold and innovative projects are underway in several U.S. cities Studies suggest promise in addressing funding shortfalls Public opinion can be positive when packaged with travel alternatives
For more information contact: Patrick DeCorla-Souza Federal Highway Administration 202-366-4076 Patrick.decorla-souza@dot.gov www.fightgridlocknow.gov