Seattle Toll Study: Don't Mix Apples With Oranges

The results of a recent transportation study were reported on last week. The study involved 275 households being given a pre-paid "driving" account, which was then deducted from based on where and when people drove. If drivers had leftover money in the account at the end of the month, they kept it. The result: people drove less.

Great! But what I fear is an apples-to-oranges translation of this study's findings to defend a traditional toll plan in our region. And I don't think the translation holds water.

• The study had people starting with extra money they didn't have. The incentive was "drive less, and you get to keep some of this money." Toll systems are closer to "have the same as you did before, but now pay up to drive here." That's just not the same.
  
• Certain roads around the region are in very high demand during peak hours. The SR-520 and I-90 bridges across Lake Washington are two great examples. Because of this demand, I believe that, unless you charge exorbitant tolls, most people will continue to use these roads (decreasing the value of a toll as a way to reduce traffic).
• I'm not a fan of tolls costing people of different means and income the same amount. People making $20,000, $200,000, and $2,000,000 annually, and having to pay the same amount to cross a bridge daily, means that the $20,000 person feels a much bigger impact on their bottom line than the other two people.

So, let's implement a system that takes advantage of the study's findings, and addresses some of the disparity issue.

First, let's actually implement a system similar to the one in the study. People get an account (funded from a portion of the transportation budget) that they can draw from when they drive. If they don't spend it all in a given month, kick it back to them (or let it rollover to the next month, at least). The lure of "free money" to cut down on unnecessary trips, or to carpool, will be high.

Second, make tolls proportional to the car being driven. Yes, a person crossing the 520 bridge in a car worth $3,000 should pay less than a person crossing it in a car worth $30,000. To put it another way, don't make the person with less means pay the "full price" of the toll.

Third, make the toll rates simple and easy to understand. Don't charge a toll on every road driven. Make it peak time. Make it only on the roads where you actually want to reduce traffic. Make it easy for someone to understand what & when they pay.

Finally, make the system accessible to all. If folks don't have or want the "deduct from the account" system, or other automatic way of paying the toll, offer other ways to collect money for the peak roads and times (cash, for example). Don't penalize visitors, and don't penalize those who don't wish to sign up for an automated account.

Yes, Seattle has a traffic problem. Yes, tolls are a tool to help address the problem. But let's use this study as a springboard to think about new, creative ways of applying tolls, instead of falling back to something convenient, tested, but not necessarily great.