Highway tolls may be geared to congestion

The Utah Taxpayers Association wants the state to charge people driving on new state highways a toll that would increase or decrease depending on traffic volumes.

It's a concept known as "congestion pricing," and it has been used in cities such as London to help cut traffic and encourage motorists to take the bus, carpool or drive at a time when most commuters aren't on the road. During peak traffic times, the toll would be higher than in off-peak hours.

Mike Jerman, vice president of the Taxpayers Association, a group funded by big businesses, said that using congestion pricing on highways such as the proposed Mountain View Corridor and the Legacy Parkway would help the state deal with an estimated $20.5 billion in needs for new roads and road improvements, by encouraging people not to drive.

The association discussed the congestion pricing proposal during a meeting Thursday about the upcoming Legislative session, which begins Monday.

"The question is, if not congestion pricing, then what?" Jerman said. "If congestion pricing changes commuter driving habits and slows the growth in vehicle miles traveled, the state will end up spending less in the long run."

By law, a toll cannot be charged on an existing road such as Interstate 15 or Interstate 80. If new lanes are added to an existing road, those lanes can be tolled. The Utah Department of Transportation began charging $50 fees last year to solo motorists willing to pay to drive in the carpool lanes, which are recent additions to the interstate.

UDOT spokesman Nile Easton said Thursday that the agency is studying whether to use congestion pricing in the carpool lane. But it's an option that's maybe three years away from being implemented, because it needs further study, he said.

"It's something that needs to be studied more in terms of understanding how it will work," he said. "Will it relieve congestion? What conditions will it work best in? What kind of transportation demand does there need to be?"

Jerman said that he was still unsure who would be running the congestion-pricing bill. "There's still some discussion as to who will be doing that," he said. But the proposal is part of a larger transportation-funding package that the association wants to see put in place by the Legislature this session.

That transportation package will include a bill calling for a $500 million bond to buy land for new state roads. The bill is being run by Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, who is also the association's president. Other parts of the package will include a bill that asks the state to look at roads and transit together when determining which receives funding.

Roads and transit currently are funded separately of each other.

For more information about the proposal, log on to: www.utahtaxpayers.org.

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com