Congestion Pricing

To address the growth of commute traffic to the Google campus and neighboring tech companies in the north (of Hwy. 101) part of this city of 74,000 in Silicon Valley, the city council is proposing a toll on all three road entrances to the area.

May 6, 2014 - Mountain View Voice

The Bay Area already has express lanes - but these 23 miles in Contra Costa County on I-680 will be the first built and operated by the new Bay Area Infrastructure Financing Authority, a division of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC).

March 19, 2014 - Contra Costa Times

That could be one explanation for the popularity of the I-95 Express Lanes, called Lexus Lanes by opponents because of the toll paid by solo drivers. While the toll has increased, so has their popularity with drivers, even with the maximum $7 toll.

January 2, 2014 - WLRN

Air pollution and traffic are choking China's largest cities: a recent conference reveals that officials are looking to solve these twin transportation problems with economics.

December 28, 2013 - StreetsBlog NYC

At a forum held this week, Boston mayoral candidates demonstrated their fluency in the language of transportation alternatives and livable communities. But ideas for meaningful policy changes were largely missing, says Boston Streets.

September 18, 2013 - Boston Streets

Got road congestion? Pricing in the form of managed (don't call them HOT) lanes makes more sense than new construction, according to a panel of transportation experts led by HNTB Corp., reports James Bruckbauer of Michigan Land Use Institute.

August 30, 2013 - Michigan Land Use Institute

High-Occupancy Toll lanes have become a popular tool to help reduce congestion and raise revenues. But recent projects in cities throughout the U.S. have failed to meet expectations. Eric Jaffe investigates the reasons why.

June 24, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

A new report paints a grim picture of San Francisco’s traffic future. Without radical reductions in auto usage, the city’s downtown will be ‘mired in gridlock.’ Is a controversial congestion pricing scheme the solution?

May 22, 2013 - The San Francisco Examiner

Yes, L.A.'s first foray into congestion pricing has improved travel times for those utilizing the high occupancy/toll lanes, but congestion has gotten worse in all other lanes, to the surprise of planners.

April 11, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

From plans to maximize development opportunities around bustling Union Station to newly operating congestion pricing schemes and rail lines that have shattered ridership expectations, Los Angeles is making progress towards a transit-rich future.

March 15, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

With its congestion pricing scheme, London took drastic steps to reduce the number of vehicles entering the city. With a new plan announced by Mayor Boris Johnson, the city is moving to limit the impact of those vehicles on the environment.

February 15, 2013 - Business Green

Scores of low emission and hybrid vehicles will no longer be exempt from London's spectacularly successful congestion pricing scheme because their growing popularity has increased pollution and traffic in the capital, reports the Daily Mail.

January 31, 2013 - Daily Mail

AP covers the opening of the first toll lanes in LA county: 110 Freeway Express Lanes that allow solo-drivers to use a carpool lane for a toll that varies with the level of congestion (i.e. congestion pricing). Shoup asks: "Why did it take so long?"

November 13, 2012 - AP via San Jose Mercury News

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) has put forth an ambitious congestion-pricing plan for new highway lanes planned on six major roadways across the Chicago metro area in the hopes of building political and public support.

October 17, 2012 - Chicago Tribune

SPUR, the San Francisco-based planing think tank, looks at the potential benefits to the public sector of using dynamic, demand-based pricing to manage limited public resources - from parking to electricity.

October 15, 2012 - SPUR

Due to its successful application in cities such as London and Singapore, congestion charging has become the favored approach for changing driver behavior. However, a professor at Stanford University may have found a nicer way to change habits.

June 12, 2012 - The New York Times

Boyd Cohen takes us through a brief tour of the Lion City's many progressive and wildly successful programs, from affordable housing to traffic management and beyond.

May 17, 2012 - Fast Company

Noah Kazis describes the explosive success of transit systems in London, Stockholm, and Singapore, and suggests that charging motorists for road use is the secret ingredient that keeps ridership high and public support strong.

May 3, 2012 - Streetsblog

Writing in the Economix blog for the New York Times, Nancy Folbre investigates the economic impact of traffic and revives the idea of congestion pricing for Manhattan.

January 31, 2012 - The New York Times

A UC Berkeley traffic study shows dramatic reductions in travel time for all Bay Bridge traffic after tolls were restructured July, 2010, applying the region's first congestion charge and charging half price for carpools, ending their free passage.

November 7, 2011 - San Francisco Chronicle