Lessons from Cities Considering Congestion Pricing

Research Team: Mollie D’Agostino (lead) and Jonathan P. Colner

UC Campus(es): UC Davis

Problem Statement: Road pricing policies can be an effective tool for encouraging carpooling, public transit use, and other alternatives to driving alone. Congestion pricing (CP) is widely considered to have significant potential for effectively reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT), reducing emissions, and providing a reliable revenue source for transportation investments. Cities such as Singapore, London, and Stockholm have successfully implemented CP systems.

Project Description: This study evaluated many of the US cities interested in CP (Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle) as well as some international cities considering CP (Vancouver, Canada, and Auckland, New Zealand). These seven cities are at vastly different stages in the development of CP systems and are employing a range of development strategies, but they also share many features of how they are approaching tailoring CP to fit the needs of their region. This paper evaluates cities along several key metrics, including 1) duration of CP investigations, 2) equity mitigations, 3) range of alternatives considered, 4) public engagement, and 5) environmental considerations.

Status: Completed

Budget: $15,000