Introducing Congestion Pricing on a New Toll Road

Congestion pricing—charging a price to use highways that is high at peak hours and low at off-peak times—holds great potential for easing traffic congestion and reducing auto emissions in Southern California. New technology for nonstop electronic toll collection, coupled with increased public concern over congestion and auto emissions, makes implementation of such pricing more feasible today than in previous decades. But the political risks of charging for freeway use suggest the need for demonstration projects, both to introduce the public to the idea and to collect data so as to quantify its effects.