Leading by example
Congestion pricing has grown slowly around
the world, but could the NYC scheme mark the
beginning of a boom for such systems in the USA?
By most accounts congestion
pricing has been a success in the
places it has been introduced.
In London and Singapore it had
the desired effect of reducing traffic
(though London has seen congestion
levels creep back up in recent years
thanks in part to the rise of rideshare).
Both cities also experienced
significant secondary gains in the form
of congestion fee revenues that far
exceeded initial expectations.
In some cities where there’s no congestion
pricing it’s been introduced implicitly
through increased parking fees
John Rennie Short, professor of public policy, University of Maryland
But if congestion pricing works so
well it begs the question why isn’t
its use more widespread? When the
New York City scheme comes on line
(most likely some time in 2021) it will
be only the sixth major city to embrace
congestion pricing – the other three
are Milan, Gothenburg and Stockholm.
Public policy professor John Rennie
Short, of the University of Maryland,
puts the lack of uptake down to a
couple of key factors.
“In some cities where there’s no
congestion pricing it’s been introduced
implicitly through increased parking
fees,” says Short. “In many cities in
mainland Europe they’ve done it the
opposite way in the sense that by
investing so well in public transport
congestion is a non-issue.”
Short anticipates congestion
pricing coming eventually to “the
US$12-15
The expected charge
for a car to enter the
congestion zone
big growth cities in Asia and
South America,” particularly in
China where he says a mixture
of rampant urban pollution
and authoritarian government
would make the case for and the
implementation of such schemes
relatively easy.
Once the Manhattan scheme is in
place Cubic Transportation Systems’
Larry Yermack expects more American
cities to adopt it.
He says: “The fact that it happened
in Singapore and London had
essentially zero impact on the US.
But this is New York, America’s preeminent
urban centre.”
Although a number of American
cities suffer the kind of traffic gridlock
that congestion pricing schemes is
meant to resolve (most notably Los
Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and
Washington) Yermack thinks that this
on its own won’t be enough to see it
adopted.
He says: “It’s not a question of
where it’s needed - New York was
not able to approve it just on the
basis of congestion. It’s a question
of where can the political consensus
be generated to push it through.
So you need to take a look at these
cities in terms of the political
environment there.”
Manhattan – the Franklin D.
Roosevelt Drive on the east and the
West Side Highway on the west.
Meaning that it will be theoretically
possible to cross the city without
having to pay the toll.
Since the West Side Highway
and, to a lesser extent, the
Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive have
multiple exits into the proposed
zone it’s clear that a large amount
of infrastructure will need to be
installed to capture vehicles as
they enter the area.
Hardware planning
While he does not rule out that
this infrastructure might include
overhead gantries Chris McKniff says
the large structures currently used
for cashless tolling on the bridges
“are absolutely not what we will be
using on city streets for congestion
pricing,” suggesting that the solution
will be something more “discreet.”
According to Yermack this
accommodation to discreet design
will be especially important on the
congestion zone’s northern boundary
where it bumps up against the
famous avenues that fan east of
Central Park. “Can you imagine them
building a big metal gantry over Park
Avenue? It isn’t going to happen.”
Another thorny issue that will
need to be resolved is the question
of exemptions and discounts. In
London, for example, residents
within the congestion charge zone
are eligible for a 90% discount at all
times. A similar idea has been
mooted for Manhattan, with
Below: Traffic
congestion in
Manhattan may not
be reduced by the
scheme, but revenues
will be raised
NYC Congestion Charge |
050 Traffic Technology International September/October 2019
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