Officials seeking study of charging vehicles for trips
By: Kytja Weir
Examiner Staff Writer
November 29, 2009
Washington-area drivers could be asked to pay 15 cents per mile if the region becomes the first major metropolitan area in the country to change how it pays for roads.
This month, regional transportation officials submitted a proposal for a federal grant to study whether the Washington area should serve as the first major test of congestion road pricing.
Currently drivers pay taxes at the pump: The more gas bought, the more they pay. But the revenue brought in by those gas taxes is slipping as vehicles become more fuel efficient.
"The community is looking for possible transportation solutions and transportation funding because gas taxes have not paid for all of the roadways and the costs that they have," said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the nonprofit Coalition for Smarter Growth.
Instead, congestion pricing would charge drivers for how far they go. Fees likely would vary depending on how clogged the roads are during the trip, the same way Metro charges higher fares for longer trips and for rush-hour travels. Proposed tolls on the InterCounty Connector, currently under construction, also will take into account traffic levels and time of day.
A Brookings Institution report estimates that the "value pricing" system could bring in up to $4.79 billion for transportation projects in the Washington region, compared with the $420 million that state gasoline taxes generate locally each year. It also would temper congestion in a region known for the second-worst traffic delays nationwide.
London and Stockholm, Sweden, have tried congestion pricing. But the idea hasn't caught on stateside.
London and Stockholm, Sweden, have tried congestion pricing. But the idea hasn't caught on stateside.
Oregon held a pilot program that charged voluntary drivers for the number of miles they drove, not how much gas they used. And New York City considered a congestion pricing system for Manhattan but ditched the plan.
Locally, the idea already has faced some resistance.
"These are huge taxes," said Lon Anderson, a spokesman for auto club AAA Mid-Atlantic. "Is the motorist a financial tooth fairy who can just fork up all this money suddenly for driving?"
Some have expressed concern about privacy, as the pricing system likely would rely on GPS units or transponders in cars. Other officials have been concerned as to how it would affect low-income commuters who might not be able to afford driving.
Schwartz said he isn't ready to support or oppose such pricing, but he backs studying the issue to answer how it could affect land development, low-income residents and transit funding.
"More information is always better," he said. "We should know the various ways that value pricing could work on D.C.-area roadways."
Alan Suderman contributed to this report.
