Traffic Congestion Pricing: Europe vs.

US
San Diego State University

Civil Engineering 481

Ryan Greek; Undergraduate Student

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It’s a beautiful Monday morning, the sun is just beginning to shine over the hills to the

east, you’re driving downtown to work and the maximum speed limit on the highway sign reads

65mph and yet you’re only going 15mph. Traffic! It’s everyone’s worst nightmare when driving.

Time is valuable to us and time and money are wasted when sitting in bumper to bumper traffic

on the interstate for 30 minutes longer than it would normally take. There are a number of

different ways that have been used to try and solve this peak hour traffic congestion. The first

being the obvious, widen the road and create more lanes, but sometimes this is not a cure-all

and sometimes it’s just not possible to widen the road. There is also creating more/better

means of mass public transportation. Then there is the idea of peak hour traffic congestion

pricing. Congestion pricing is a way of harnessing the power of the market to reduce the waste

associated with traffic congestion (FHWA-3). Both the US and European Countries have begun

to use this type of traffic control in major metropolitan areas.

The way it congestion pricing works is by simply shifting the discretionary rush hour

highway travel to other transportation modes or to off-peak periods. This can benefit the

traffic of removing or deterring the majority of rush hour drivers who are non commuters from

the highway. Even removing as little as 5% of the vehicles from the roadway, pricing enables

the system to flow much more efficiently, allowing more cars to move through the same

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physical space. Similar variable charges have been successfully utilized in other industries such

as airline tickets, cell phone rates and electricity rates. Congestion pricing is the overall term

but there are 4 main strategies of pricing: Variably priced lanes, Variable tolls on entire

roadways, Cordon charges, and Area-wide charges (FHWA-3). Variably priced lanes involve

variable tolls on separated lanes within a highway, like HOT lanes or Express Toll lanes, the I-15

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between the SR 56 and I-8 is a local example. Variable tolls on entire highways are flat fees for

the use of the whole roadway such as SR 73 in Orange County. Cordon charges and Area-wide

charges are methods mostly used in Europe.

The US uses congestion pricing in many of its densely populated metropolitan area’s

such as Los Angeles, Oregon, Florida and even right here in San Diego. In fact San Diego is one

of the front runners of traffic control innovators in the entire United States. Interstate 15 right

here in San Diego uses a type of variable priced lanes, specifically HOT lanes, aka High

Occupancy Toll lanes. The SR 91 Express Lanes in Orange County, Bridge Pricing in Lee County

Florida, and Oregon’s Mileage-Based Pricing Test are all examples of peak traffic congestion

pricing.

In December of 1996, here in San Diego County, the first phase of changing the 8-mile

stretch of HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes in the middle of I-15 were converted to HOT

lanes allowing solo drivers to use them for a fee. This was one of the first congest pricing done

in the US. Phase I consisted of a limited number of single drivers that were allowed unlimited

access to the HOT lanes to pay a one-time monthly fee, $50 dollars then later raised to $70 per

month. Phase II is the start of the FasTrak system. Now instead of a one-time flat fee the solo

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drivers would now pay a fee per trip for using the lanes. These fees would vary depending on

the time of day and traffic levels. They vary in 25-cent increments and can be changed as often

as every six minutes. The fees would be paid by a prepaid account that was set up prior to use

of the lanes and after using the lanes the fees would be deducted out of the account. Taking a

look at the data it seemed that the benefits outweighed the costs in the extensive analysis that

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was conducted for the I-15 FasTrak project. Looking at the surveys that were conducted the

HOT lanes that were set up received an overwhelming warm reception amongst the I-15 users.

90% of non-FasTrak users said the congestion pricing project was fair and even 70% of

carpoolers said it was fair as well. Contrary to what some may think carpooling even increased

on the HOT lanes. The use of the HOT lanes turned out to be extremely reliable delivering free

flowing travel conditions 99% of the time. This is key because if there is a delay on the HOT

lanes which cost money then it would be undesirable because time would be wasted just like

the main lanes, but with 99% of the time having free flowing travel conditions virtually no time

is wasted. (Supernak-1)

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(FHWA-3)

State Route 91 Freeway has four variably priced lanes located in the median which

opened in December of 1995. In this case the toll schedule is adjusted every three months after

the traffic has been observed over a three month period. During peak hour traffic congestion

main lane speed can be reduced down to no more than 15-20 mph. While the toll lane speeds

will stay at speeds of 60-65 mph. On major traffic times like Friday afternoon from 5-6 the

eastbound express lanes each can carry almost twice as many vehicles per lane than the main

lanes can hold because of the severe congestion on the SR 91 in the main lanes.

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(FHWA-3)

Another local example of congestion pricing is the toll that Coronado bridge employs

during peak traffic times. This detours drivers from using the bridge if not totally necessary and

will move their trip either to the other route entering the island or changing the time of the trip

to a non-peak travel time. This is similar to a case in Lee County, Florida, where variable pricing

on a bridge began in August of 1998. The Midpoint and Cape Coral toll bridges were marked

50% off to travelers who traveled during specific discount periods and paid using an electronic

pay system. The discounted time periods were from 6:30 to 7 AM, 9 to 11 AM, 2 to 4 PM, and

6:30 to 7 PM.(FHWA-3) This system strives to effect the drivers choose to drive during off-peak

discount periods instead of the high traffic peak periods.

Oregon is working on an area-wide pricing with smaller expenditures on the roadside

infrastructure. The study would use GPS to charge on mileage based fees and peak period

driving charges. These charges they hopefully reduce traffic during the peak congestion periods

while raising revenue to replace existing fuel based fees. (FHWA-3)

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 The US isn’t the only place to use traffic congestion pricing. In fact in London, England,

talked and began to do study’s on possible congestion pricing as early as 1964. But it wasn’t

until February of 2003 that the Congestion Charging program for central London. The charges

would cover the heavily congested central business district of London, which is a total of 8.0

square miles. “The charging zone represented less than 1.5% of the total area of Greater

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London with a population of about 7.0 million. Subsequently, the charging zone was extended

to the west to cover additional 8.0 square miles including Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea

(shown in lighter shading in Exhibit 2). The overall program package included 40% increases in

capacity of buses and train by 2011 starting immediately with expansion of bus service.”(FHWA-

2)

Exhibit 2: The Central London Congestion Charging Zone

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2003 Original Charging Zone -  Eastern Dark Shaded Area
2005 Expansion Zone Added  -  Western Light Shaded Area
(Excludes North-South Edgware/Park/Vauxhall Roads)
2003 Original Charge Zone ~8.0 Square Miles
(Inset: Charge Zone Within Greater London Area)

This type of traffic congestion pricing is an example of Cordon/Area-wide road pricing.

Drivers are charged a flat weekday fee of, £5 initially then in 2005 the fee was raised to £8, to

all vehicles traveling within the charging zone or entering or even leaving the given area. The

fee is enforced between the hours of 7:00 AM and 6:00 PM, it was 6:30 PM up until 2007.

There are a multitude of different discounts and exemptions, especially for residents of the

pricing zone who get a 90% discount off the fee. Hybrid vehicles, taxis, buses, motorcycles and

of course emergency vehicles are all exempt from any charging. This was at first to reduce the

weekday congestion in the central city zone but was expanded westward in February of 2007 to

reduce the traffic in the entire area. To police the area there are over 650 closed-circuit

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cameras set up throughout the cordon and within the zone that stream live video of all the

vehicles license plates. Every vehicle must be paid for using one of the many different payment

options. You can pay by SMS text message, by phone, in shops with PayPoint equipment, or via

the designated website. The charge must be paid the day of or an additional fee will be

assessed as follows, £10 for the day after, £40 if not paid more than a day late and finally the

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fee will skyrocket to £120 if not paid within four weeks from the day the driving in the zone

occurred. (FHWA-2)

To their amazement the traffic was dramatically effected once the new Congestion

Pricing Program was in place. After only one year of implementing the system the number of

vehicles entering the zone was reduced by an astonishing 18 percent, and the circulation of

traffic was reduced by 15 percent when the charging zone was in effect. Travel speeds went up

by 30 percent, bus use increased by 40 percent, and traffic delays inside and outside entering

the Congested Pricing zone were reduced by 25 percent. The travel time reliability was now

significantly higher as well.(FHWA-2)

Another city that has effectively used congestion pricing is Stockholm. After a 6 month

trial run of the cordon congestion pricing system in 2006, it was permanently implemented by

mid-2007 because it was so effective. The 20 square miles of the central city area of Stockholm

is under the pricing is in effect. There are 18 different pricing points total but for the most part

charges go into effect on weekdays from 6:30 AM to 6:30 PM and the price was set at 10 SEK (1

SEK = $0.13 US) for off-peak, 15 SEK for shoulder peak hours, 20 SEK for peak traffic hours and

there is a maximum charge of 60 SEK for those who have multiple crossings into the charged

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area. Fees are collected along the perimeter of the encompassed the city center area at 18

different locations they call “control points” (FHWA-2). According to a news article less than a

year after establishing the congestion pricing 25 percent reduction of traffic what equates to

more than 100,000 vehicles being removed from the area during peak hours. This caused an

increase of 40,000 users in the mass transit use per day. (Congestion-4)

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After looking at the many different extensive examples that have been used here in the

US and abroad in Europe there is always the question of who’s systems are more effective. At

first glance of the numbers you would almost have to be inclined to go with Europe and their

Cordon Congestion Pricing. With numbers like 18 and 25 percent reduction in overall traffic in

London and Stockholm respectively, you would almost have to say Europe but there is still

overall a little congestion even with the cordon pricing. And I am inclined to say Europe has a

better system as well but we must look at the US’s examples in more in depth. In the US the

participators in FasTrak, those who are paying a fee to use special lanes, have virtually no traffic

to contend with ever. So effectively their travel time is not disrupted at all on their commute,

so this could be an example of a better system. Well whatever system someone may choose is

best there should be a mutual respect for each system and the two sides can learn and take

ideas from each other to reap the benefits of both.

Bibliography

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1. Supernak, Janusz. ‘Hot Lanes on Interstate 15 in San Diego: Technology, Impacts and

Equity Issues’ SDSU, USA

2. FHWA Operations. "Lessons Learned From International Experience in Congestion Pricing."

December 2006. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.

<http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop08047/02summ.htm>.

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3. FHWA Operations. Congestion Pricing: A Primer - FHWA Office of Operations." December 2006.

Web. 7 Oct. 2010. <http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/congestionpricing/sec4.htm>.

4. "Congestion Pricing System Trial Reduces Stockholm Traffic 25 Percent in One Month."

Government Technology: State & Local Government News Articles. 6 Mar. 2006. Web. 10 Oct.

2010. <http://www.govtech.com/e-government/Congestion-Pricing-System-Trial-Reduces-

Stockholm.html>.

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