Solving the Congestion Problem
Consistent with the paradigm of its causes, there are four distinct, but nonetheless related strategies available to attack congestion. Table 1 outlines the four strategies and provides examples of specific options for furthering each of them. It is important to note that the strategies, while individually of merit, work best when implemented as a coordinated package of tools.
Bring Supply and Demand into Alignment through Congestion Pricing. Congestion pricing or peak-period pricing, entails fees or tolls for road use that vary by level of vehicle demand on the facility. As with market pricing in other sectors, road pricing helps allocate limited supply – in this case that of available road space.
Table 1. Examples of Strategies to Reduce Highway Congestion
| Bring Supply and Demand into Alignment through Congestion Pricing |
|---|
| Road Pricing |
| Ramp Metering |
| Corridor Management |
| Provide Real-Time Travel Information |
| Provide Better Choices as to How, When, Where, and If to Travel |
| Provide More Attractive Alternatives to Single Occupant Vehicle Transportation (Including Better Transit, More Telecommuting, or High Occupancy Toll Lanes) |
| Provide Real-Time Travel Information |
| Strategically Invest in New Transportation Capacity |
| Add New Construction on New Alignment |
| Improve the Management and Operation of the System |
Quickly Restore Capacity After Traffic Disrupting Events
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Improve the Day-to-Day Operation of the System
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| Provide Real-Time Travel Information to Agencies and System Users |
Please Dispose of Gasoline Properly! Imagine purchasing from 8 gallons of fuel (in a small urban area) to 36 gallons of fuel (in a large urban area) per year, and then throwing it away. In fact, that is one estimate of how much fuel is wasted while idling in congestion per year. At $3.00/gallon, that amounts to $24 to $108 "out of pocket" for every driver in these areas. The average was 28 gallons, or $84. (2005 Urban Mobility Study, The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), 2005) |
With user charges assessed at the point of use, greater efficiency results through improved response to market forces. Charges are typically assessed electronically to eliminate delays associated with manual toll collection facilities. Road-use charges that vary with the level of vehicle demand provide incentives to shift some trips to off-peak times, less-congested routes, or alternative modes; or to cause some lower-value trips to be combined with other trips or simply to be eliminated.
Congestion pricing has several important objectives. First, it seeks to balance demand with available capacity, i.e., the supply of road space. Second, it seeks to fairly allocate the costs associated with operating, maintaining, and expanding the transportation system to meet growing travel demand. Third, it seeks to improve operation of the highway system. A fourth objective may include revenue generation.
Provide Better Choices as to How, When, Where, and If to Travel. The goal with this strategy is to reduce the number of vehicles on a given road. This may take the form of promoting alternative commute options such as employee telecommuting options or making transit easier and more attractive to use. Also of interest in managing demand are driver incentive programs that, for example, promote ridesharing and off-peak use.
Strategically Invest in New Transportation Capacity. Although there is significant and widespread demand for new highway capacity, concerns about air pollution, noise, and urban sprawl often stand in the way of expanding the system. Equally significant, adding new capacity can be enormously expensive and physically challenging. Despite the barriers, however, new construction that serves critical strategic purposes will go forward in order to preserve or improve system performance.
Let's see, at $12M Severe traffic congestion is pervasive in large regions and is worsening throughout the United States. In the future even small, urbanized areas are likely to experience congestion common in mid-sized areas today. To relieve severe congestion by providing additional capacity, an additional 104,000 lane-miles of capacity (about 6.2 percent of current lane-miles) will be needed. Congestion relief through provision of additional capacity is quite feasible, given current budgets. The benefits of an investment in additional capacity would be substantial. In addition to reduced travel time, other benefits include smoother traffic flow, reduced accidents, improved air quality through lower emissions, lower fuel use and operating costs, more reliable travel, lower logistical costs for manufacturing and delivery, more choices of jobs for workers and businesses, and wider choices for consumers. (Building Roads to Reduce Traffic Congestion in America's Cities: |
Although widespread capacity increases are a thing of the past, many of the barriers may be addressed through increased expenditures. Environmental concerns may be mitigated and physical challenges overcome (for example, through tunneling). However, the resources to fund such improvements simply are not available through traditional sources. For this reason, many professionals in the transportation community are enthusiastic about the opportunities potentially afforded by public-private partnerships and road pricing.
Improve the Management and Operation of the System. This area of interest involves better managing the vehicles that are actually on the road, and the road itself. "Smart" roads, traveler information, and improvements to the management and operation of the facility are options available for using the available system more productively and bringing it to peak performance. Management and operations strategies are targeted at managing temporary disruptions (e.g., incidents) in a way that will return the system to full capacity quicker; ensuring more efficient day-to-day operations through coordinated and up-to-date traffic signal timing and operational improvements to relieve bottlenecks; and providing real-time information about the system so that travelers can make immediate decisions about when, where, and how to travel, and transportation agencies can make real-time adjustments to improve system operations.
Effective and efficient management and operation of the system is foundational to all of the above congestion reduction strategies. This is true because as traffic volumes have grown over time and physical capacity has remained relatively constant, the system has become less able to absorb "surprise" – or nonrecurring events. In the realm of managing the highway system, the margin for error is very small and continues to decline. In addition, operational fixes to the system are also helpful in addressing the recurring congestion resulting from bottlenecks and improper traffic signal timing. This is particularly significant in view of the fact that bottlenecks account for 40 percent of congestion and are often difficult to resolve via major reconstruction.
How Are Freight Delays Costly to You?
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