RESOLVING GRIDLOCK IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Abstract

This article contends that peak-hour pricing would bring about a significant reduction in traffic congestion, if it were implemented on Southern California's freeways. It points to the growing popularity of toll roads in Europe and the Pacific Rim countries and in some parts of the United States. It also points out that state-of-the-art tollways can largely dispense with congestion-causing toll booths, substituting electronic pricing via automatic vehicle identification (AVI) systems. Advantages of the build-operate-transfer (B-O-T) model for private tollways include faster procurement, lower operating costs, innovation, the privacy issue (Americans would prefer AVI by private agencies rather than government), and lower construction cost. Suggestions for possible tollway innovations include light-vehicles-only operation, building a second deck to operate in the peak hour traffic direction, new tunnels between the San Fernando Valley and the Hollywood Freeways, and development of other revenue sources (e.g., tollway firms leasing space to pipelines). Concluding comments center on building a private-tollways coalition and establishing a research agenda including potential providers, gasoline tax revenue allocation, federal funding, regulatory regime identification, double-decking feasibility, AVI issues, legal issues, policing policy, and assembling and publishing a bibliography.

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