Cars are great and convenient, but there's room for improvement. The carpool lane, for instance. There's plenty of room there, but what if I'm driving without a passenger? The extra lane could do extra-duty as a value-priced express lane.
I'm on my way to work, say driving on I-26 from Beaverton into downtown Portland. Up ahead traffic is at a stand-still. I look to the electronic display above the toll entrance. Four dollars. To get to the meeting on time, this morning it's worth it. A triple double mocha Americano with extra whip. Heck, I'm going to drive in the express lane. Click! A sensor camera photographs my license and windshield. I've got two weeks to pay the toll at participating grocery stores. I don't mind. I'm making good money, and I know the four dollars goes directly to pay for the new lightrail and overhead wires for the cities' electric bus fleet. Of course, I plan to sell my car and afford myself one of those new cars: electric vehicles have free access to express lanes.
Seeing as people will pay for convenience—especially when you're talking traffic jams—an express lane can pay for itself, and create a revenue stream to finance a more sustainable transportation infrastructure. The pricing would be dynamic: reduced when traffic is light, and as high as twenty dollars when traffic is at a standstill.
Intelligently (strategically) placed along a corridor that connects well-paid employees with their place of work downtown, lane-pricing provides a double service: relieving congestion while paying for new infrastructure. Congestion-pricing exists in Stockholm and London. Mayor Bloomberg of New York City tried to get congestion-pricing passed in Albany, but it didn't fly. Maybe Portland can implement a variation on the European model: something more in line with America's need for speed. Okay, you want to go fast, now you can buy it. At the same time, rationalize the expense as a sincere contribution to the creation of progressive transportation infrastructure.
As long as there's the free option, studies show people accept lane-pricing. A simple study of the highways serving the neighborhoods most able to pay for an express lane, and then installing an electronically-monitored toll entrance and a strip of highway dividers... Okay, it will be more than a simple study, it will have to be a serious look at proven use of high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes in other cities and how to best fit a value-priced express lane to Portland.
It's like the Smart Grid, but with cars. Check out Steve Lohr's article in The New York Times: Bringing Efficiency to the Infrastructure.
For a testimony presented to lawmakers (or lawgivers. Generous. Kind. The U.S. Congress ... no really, see for yourself): The Role of Road Pricing in Reducing Traffic Congestion.
What do you think about using a value-priced express lane to generate revenue for transportation infrastructure in Portland?
I like the idea of a value-priced express lane. It was considered about 10 years ago in the Bay Area. The idea was to let people pay to use the carpool (HOV) lane when there was only one person in the car. I think the plan wasnt implemented because, at that time, planners didnt believe people would pay for access to the carpool lane. Pricing is key, too low and too many people would use it and the lane would become clogged just like the rest of the road. I think this should be explored. On many freeways expansion isnt desirable or practical, and is very expensive. It would also deal with those who cheat by jumping into the carpool lane to avoid traffic.
I don't like the idea. Another chance for the wealthy to have public advantages - the streets are ultimately paid for by us all.
The intention of a value-priced express lane is to relieve congestion and generate revenue. Rather than building infrastructure that just costs money, the HOT lane serves to finance Streetcars and other public conveyance that are part of a progressive transportation infrastructure.
Congestion pricing is an idea that already has arrived. It will take lots of innovative forms, some lasting, some not.
Okay, John, since "the streets are ultimately paid for by us all", let's reframe the discussion in terms of equity. Why should we accord the special right of taking up all that space to automobiles in the first place? And this has little to do with income. Rather it's about finding the balance between personal choices and the protection of a commons in which we all have a stake.
It is already in effect in Southern CA. One or more of the roads near San Bernardino has demand-pricing toll lanes. I don't know how successful, or profitable they are.
@CarolMcCreary Thanks for the insightful comment. It's true: we are affording special right to the automobile! Also like your viewpoint on personal choice. Thanks for participating.