Leaders to discuss tolls on 'free' highways

WASHINGTON -- Because traffic in the D.C. region never seems to improve, transportation experts are about to ask a highly controversial question: Should drivers pay for a road they now ride for free, if it means a better commute?

The region's Transportation Planning Board -- which examines and approves major transportation projects -- is going to take up the topic during its monthly meeting next week.

"The premise of this is that we do not have good options for revenue, and we are not getting a good handle on congestion," Ron Kirby, the director of the Transportation Planning Board, tells WTOP.

This means the gas tax isn't raising enough to help pay for construction and maintenance of roads. Setting up a tolling system or a tax on vehicle miles could provide the necessary revenue while getting people to think twice before pulling out of their driveways.

Revenue could also be put back into a program that would fund other transportation options like mass transit -- in this case -- Metro.

Setting up new tolls in the D.C. region is nothing new -- it's being done with the Capital Beltway HOT lane project in Virginia, and the Inter-County Connector in Maryland. However, setting up tolls on existing roads is a new concept.

"If you don't want to use the HOT lanes or the ICC, you can continue what you are doing right now," Kirby says. "The real challenge is, can you put a package together where you will have to pay a price for something you get for free right now?"

The Federal Highway Administration has been encouraging cities across the country to explore this type of system, known as congestion pricing.

In New York City, it almost became a reality. A proposal that would have charged drivers $8 a day and trucks $21 to enter or leave Manhattan below 86th Street on weekdays during the workday ultimately fell short. The proposal would have also charged those that drove within the congestion zone $4 a day for cars and $5.50 for trucks.

Congestion pricing is currently set up in places like London and Stockholm.

D.C. may be next.

"Some say that we should volunteer to be the first to try it (in the U.S.)," Kirby says.

While the level and scope of such a program is not yet known, the ability to set it up is.

"What we are saying is that we know the technology is there. Our only problem is how the public is going to feel about it. The devil in there is -- what happens when you apply this to a specific situation and start affecting people's current situation?"

On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments approved a plan to provide $80,000 for this study. If the Transportation Planning Board agrees to move forward, the Federal Highway Administration will be asked to contribute $320,000 toward the study.

This study would take a year and could include a trial experiment in part of the region. Just as an example, an electronic tolling system could be set up on a road like the Rock Creek Parkway. At the end of the trial run, a referendum would be voted on to either keep the program going or end it, based on the results.

"We are not starting out with this road or that road. What we are saying is: 'Here's the approach to tackling the revenue problem and the congestion problem, lets look at the various ways that could be done,'" Kirby says.

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