VALUE PRICING: PAYING A PREMIUM FOR CONGESTION-FREE TRAFFIC

The US Congress recently authorised a US$50M six-year Value Pricing Pilot Program as part of the USA's Transportation Equity Act for the 21st century (TEA-21). This new programme replaces the Congestion Pricing Pilot Program under the 1991 ISTEA legislation. It authorises 15 'value pricing' demonstration projects, and allows single-occupant vehicles to travel in high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes as part of such projects. The new initiative abandons the pursuit of classical congestion pricing in favour of value pricing and high-occupancy/toll (HOT) lanes. Value pricing charges drivers for the use of uncongested roads, thus better travel conditions, so that many drivers perceive it as a choice, whereas they perceive congestion charging as a punitive measure. For example, HOT lanes let toll-paying solo drivers use parallel under-used car-pool lanes. In a recent report on value pricing, an ITE task force indicates that three facilities in the USA, already using value pricing, may indicate a new, value-based approach to road pricing; it identifies 12 US jurisdictions with plans for value pricing projects. In contrast, environmentalists are increasingly questioning the contribution of HOV lanes to solving air pollution and traffic congestion, even though they benefit car poolers.