Sims Proposes Congestion Pricing for Busy Freeways
A report prepared at the direction of King County Executive Ron Sims advocates turning all major freeways from Everett to Lakewood, near Fort Lewis, into payas- you-go roadways. According to the draft report, dated March 5, 2007, all vehicles except transit and emergency responders would pay a fee to travel within this network of major highways, with cost determined by time of day and distance driven.
The report calls for a “transportation improvement fee� (TIF) that it says could produce $1.1 billion to $1.6 billion in “user fees� per year, or $36 billion over the next 20 years, “without statewide contributions or sales tax measures that degrade the economic competitiveness of the region.�
King County contracted with the Washington State Transportation Center (TRAC), which used traffic engineers from the University of Washington, and Booz Allen Hamilton, a worldwide leader in the development of such congestion pricing strategies, to create the 44-page document, titled “Destination 2030 – Taking an Alternative Route.� If implemented, the authors say, their customized plan would simultaneously reduce traffic congestion and generate sufficient revenue to rebuild and maintain what most agree is an insufficient and deteriorating transportation infrastructure in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties.
The report proposes charging the TIF on all major roadways, including Interstate 5, State Route 520, Interstate 405, Interstate 90 as far east as Issaquah, State Route 509, State Route 167 from Auburn to Renton, State Route 518 and parts of State Route 99.
The report’s authors emphasize that their suggestions are meant to be starting points for regional discussion. That said, to achieve the dual benefits of lessened traffic congestion and raising enough money to pay for necessary transportation improvements, the authors suggest charging every car $2 for a typical morning commute. That same trip at 3 a.m. would cost $1. However, someone driving from Tacoma to Woodinville at the height of the afternoon commute would pay $8, the maximum for any single trip. Fees for large trucks would be double those prices.
“There are a number of reasons why the state and the region should adopt the TIF,� the authors say. “However, the best reason is that the TIF is the fairest way to fund the region’s desired transportation improvements. The great advantage of the TIF is that those who pay the TIF will gain the benefit. Those who do not use the system will not be required to pay for it.�
To keep track of who uses which roadway when, all onramps and off-ramps would be equipped with short-range communications technology that would read transponders placed in most vehicles, as well as cameras to photograph license plates in order to identify “casual users,� which would include out-of-state drivers passing through.
“We are entering a period of consequences,� the report states. “Dithering half-measures that produce incremental or fiscally bound partial ‘solutions’ to our transportation problems are eroding confidence in public stewardship and trust.� Along with less congestion and increased road funding, the report says TIF revenues could be used to expand light rail and give the region more transit service, more park-andride lots and more bicycle lanes. Also, because the TIF would encourage a “substantial reduction in single-occupancy vehicle miles of travel and would encourage carpooling� as well as more transit use, it would enhance environmental sustainability.
Jack Opiola, who came from London to head Booz Allen Hamilton’s part of the project, says the team was given only four weeks by Sims to develop and produce the report. “The time frame was short because Ron wanted it done before the March 13 referendum (on the viaduct and the waterfront tunnel). He anticipated a ‘No’ and ‘No’ vote.�
Once the public had expressed its disdain for both the viaduct and the tunnel, Opiola explains, Sims foresaw an opportunity to step forward into the postvote chaos and offer a frustrated public the particulars of his visionary alternative.
This article is republished courtesy of Washington CEO:
Freeways No More
