Congestion Pricing In Seattle
- Posted by: Andrew Price
- on October 25, 2007 at 6:37 pm
One of the five innovations in urban transportation that we mentioned in issue 004 was congestion pricing.
In London, drivers pay a charge for entering the city center. The system raises revenue, reduces crowding and encourages the use of public transportation. Win-win-win.
A new proposal in Seattle is slightly different. Drivers would pay a dynamic fee for using any of the area’s highways. The fee would depend on the demand on the highway system at that time. You’d pay more at rush hour than at 2pm. Gantries would note where you entered the highway network and where you left, and automatically deduct a charge form your account.
The money (smartly) goes to maintaining roads and improving public transportation, including light rail and BRT (bus rapid transit).
It’s great to see an idea like this go from “It would be cool if some U.S. city could…” to “There’s this concrete proposal in Seattle…”
UPDATE: In case it wasn’t clear, the map above shows the highways that’d be involved.
