Project Summary
This research synthesis project will evaluate road pricing policies that reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and mitigate burdens on lower-income travelers. There will be two parts to our analysis. First, we will conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate six hypothetical Congestion Pricing (CP) systems in Vancouver, Auckland, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, and New York. These cities have not yet deployed CP systems, but they are conducting extensive analyses to determine feasibility and assess potential impacts and various pricing alternatives. This comparative analysis will aim to shine light on what policies each of the target cities are considering, and how these cities are proposing to maximize equity while reducing VMT. The second part of the project will identify best practices from the literature for price-offset systems from the transportation sector (e.g. variable priced lanes, or transit passes) as well as other sectors (e.g., subsidies for utilities, housing, or nutrition) and determine whether there any lessons can be learned from these strategies that are applicable to building equitable and effective road pricing and CP systems.
