Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Here's an article I found in The Economist addressing projected congestion problems. It proposes using adjusted tolls to reduce the number of cars on the road and raise funds for public transportation. Though such an idea would probably be met with strong public backlash, adjusted tolls have been successfully implemented to reduce congestion in several large foreign cities. Most notably, Singapore's ERP (Electronic Road Pricing) and London's Congestion Charge have been hugely successful in alleviating traffic congestion and shortening commute times during peak driving hours. What are your thoughts on this proposed system? Is there a way it could ever be implemented in a U.S. city?

5 comments:

  1. Really interesting article and concept. I think if you keep all those people going to get coffee off the road, though, you're going to see a huge decrease in consumer surplus spending unless efficient public transportation is implemented first.

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  2. I just don't see public transportation having as big of an economic impact in American cities as we would like to think. I agree with Bridgett, more cars off the road will only lead to bad consequences for consumer spending.

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  3. These systems are generally only implemented in traffic heavy downtown areas to encourage people to use public transit. While it would decrease the amount of people using cars in these areas, most people do not drive into high congestion areas to buy coffee. They typically only travel to these areas for work related purposes which means they are unlikely to stop making them; they will either pay the tolls to travel on less congested roads or take public transit. Additionally, these tolls have been used to funded public transportation initiatives, so the population remains quite mobile despite using cars less.

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  4. As to your point Andy, I frankly have no idea where you are getting these ideas. Numerous studies have demonstrated exactly how much money is lost in our inefficient transportation system through congestion (130 billion dollars) and maintaining highways (91 billion dollars by federal government, considerably more by state and local governments), not to mention the hundreds of billions of dollars drivers spend on gasoline each year which would otherwise be spent in other sectors of the economy. So while it may not be a popular idea, public transportation does in fact have the potential to benefit the economy in big ways.

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  5. Very interesting article.I agree with what Martin says . The adjusted tolls idea reminds me of the basic principle in economics . "People respond to incentives" . The adjusted tolls would give incentive to people going to buy a coffee to walk, use public transportation or simply live in the city. As a result cities would be saved from urban sprawl and benefit from public transportation and congestion free roads. Traffic congestion results in people getting late for work, ambulances getting stuck in traffic, and a lot of stress. Even if these road tolls result in a decrease in consumer surplus spending(as Bridgett points out), the reduction in congestion makes it worth it.

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