Congestion Pricing: Paying Tolls to Access Roads

On a daily basis many people drive the same cluttered roads in and out of their cities in order to go to work, visit friends, visit businesses, access hospitals, attend sporting events, along with an overabundance of other activities that your city supplies. The majority of us never have to pay a cent to access these roads to go to where we need to go. The only time we are used to paying a toll is when we are taking main highways through state lines or changing highways at various locations that require payment for access, I've only run into taking tolls whenever I visit friends in Ohio or had taken my trip to Ocean City, Maryland. But how would you feel, if in order to access the same roads you take into your fair city, on a daily basis, you had to pay a fee of say $8 a day? Maybe more or maybe less

This is called congestion pricing and is already popping up all over the world. The reasons are varied from place to place regarding their reasoning for the access cost. The cost is imposed by local governments for the use of any of the roads inside some distinct region.

Germany is currently charging trucks depending on their emission levels and the number of axles they have. New York, Pennsylvania is also proposing the congestion pricing to those who enter the central business district of parts of Manhattan, possibly charging up to $8 per car for use of those roads. Italy, Norway, and Singapore also have road pricing.

Congestion pricing is said that it directly benefits the motorists by reducing congestion and improving roadways. Less road congestion also means less damage done to the main roads, hence less money the local government has to spend repairing those roads. Managing the road congestion also shifts the traffic to other roads or side roads, again causing less traffic on the main roads into the city. As we all know, especially those living in overpopulated areas like Seattle, or even New York, you could sit for hours in traffic just trying to get to work in the morning.

The advantages of congestion pricing for one is already stated, having to collect money off of motorists will cause them to find a different route and lessoning the congestion and the time it takes to get into the city. Another advantage is that the fee that is paid to access these roads will, hopefully, go for other road work or management funding to fix up those roads that haven't seen a local work truck in years. Maybe all those pot holes will finally be fixed! Another great advantage of this idea is less contribution of pollution. The more we run our vehicles, the more pollution is dispersed into the air, assisting with global warming. Limiting the time we are spent just sitting in traffic, letting our cars run, and dispersing that pollution. We can't forget about the many accidents that occur when people are all jammed up, in a hurry, accidents happen, and lives are taken or affected forever. Road pricing will cut down the amount of daily accidents on these major roads.

How do you feel about the cost of parking in the big city? How many of you pay anywhere from five to ten dollars a day to park your car while you work? By paying a fee to enter the city, some cities may lower the cost of parking facility costs. It could become to your advantage if you pay $5 to access the city and only $2 to park, compared to the $10 you had to pay to park in the first place. Although you are only saving a few bucks, every little bit helps. Parking facility costs may or may not change due to the congestion pricing, and with everything, there are disadvantages too.

What about in the winter? For those areas heavily hit by blizzards and snow and ice, taking side roads or alternate routes may not be safe compared to the main roads which are the top priority to salt and plow. During winter months, will the side roads become top priority as well or will they not, just to force people to use those main roads that charge access in order to make more money for the city. As far as the winter idea goes, if congestion pricing is being used to fund road work costs, does that mean that it is going to go to promote extra plows to be sent out to normally ignored roads?

Another disadvantage is the money that the normal daily motorist has to put out to go to work. If you think about it, if it costs you $8 to enter the city everyday and you work five days a week. That is $40 per week and over $2000 per year! Who really has that type of money to spare each year? What if you don't drive or carpool? What if you take mass transit to work everyday? Here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, we pay normally $1.75 bus fare to $3.75, depending on where your going, because of the congestion pricing does that mean that the bus fare is going to go up to maybe $3 to $5 per person just to get into the city?

Many cities are using congestion pricing to urge residents to use mass transit. I'm not sure about other areas, however in my town, if the idea of congestion pricing goes through, the hundreds of buses and bus route cuts that have been done over the last two years will ultimately have to be uncut. Some cities are just using the pricing during peak traffic hours.

In conclusion, this pricing idea can be beneficial and can be harmful. This decision shouldn't just be discussed by members of the local government; they should be addressed and discussed with the local population that is going to be bound to paying these prices. When addressed, the public needs to know the reasoning behind it, what their city is going to achieve by this charge, what other roads are available that are not going to charge for access, as well as mass transit information and costs as well. Our local governments may have our best interest at heart, or maybe they don't, in any case, the public has a right to vote and realize what they are trying to save and accomplish.