Lee County participating in FHWA Congestion Pricing Pilot Program
Solving traffic problems now and in the future will require innovative solutions. As has been said by many, we cannot simply “build our way out of congestion.” As a result of requirements of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991, development of a variety of innovative programs is now under way around the country. One such program is the FHWA Congestion Pricing Pilot Program.
Initially, this program set aside funding to support Federal participation (up to 80 percent) for the development, start-up, and operating costs of pilot programs around the U.S. However, in fiscal year 1995, budgetary considerations reduced funding for this program, and funds are now available to support only two pilot program projects to completion. One of these projects is located in Lee County (in southwest Florida, home county of Ft. Myers), and CUTR is playing a vital role.
Congestion pricing is the practice of charging higher prices for a commodity during times of peak demand. This practice is common in many industries (for example, telephone rates generally increase during peak periods) and is a pricing strategy that enables commodity providers to regulate usage and attempt to flatten out the peaks and valleys in demand curves.
The Lee County Congestion Pricing Pilot Program was designed to promote a variable pricing project to full implementation and then gather data on user tripmaking behavior and agency benefits. This may encourage the creation of other congestion pricing projects across the country. Lee County’s project involves two activities: (1) the upgrading of its current toll collection system with the addition of electronic toll collection (ETC), most likely a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system with a toll plaza reader and vehicle transponder, on the Sanibel, Cape Coral, and Midpoint (scheduled to open in summer 1997) toll bridges; and (2) the implementation of variable pricing on the Midpoint and Cape Coral bridges.
One of the primary methods of congestion pricing is the raising of tolls during peak hours. This often makes congestion pricing politically unpalatable, as many residents see this charge as unfairly penalizing the average worker. The County plans to reduce tolls during the periods just before and just after the morning and evening peak periods. This will offer an incentive to drivers to travel outside of the peak periods instead of the usual penalties for traveling during the peak periods. Because of this significant difference, Lee County’s program has been termed “variable pricing,” not “congestion pricing.”
Phase One of this two-phase project was recently completed and involved extensive pre-congestion pricing data collection and a detailed plan of action for implementation and study of variable pricing. Data were gathered by means of origin/destination surveys, video logs of congestion, focus groups, traffic counts, bridge user surveys, and traffic modeling.
CUTR conducted three tasks in Phase One in addition to providing general technical advisory services. The first task was to provide an independent, comprehensive assessment of Lee County’s preferred toll pricing scenarios. CUTR made specific recommendations on the structure of the variable pricing program and helped determine the resulting revenue shortfall. The second task was to conduct eight focus group meetings to determine residents’ views on both variable pric-ing and electronic toll collection. Near-ly 70 people participated in the focus groups. Several interesting findings resulted from the focus groups, including very positive responses to both the variable pricing scheme and the need for the new ETC technology. As part of the third task, CUTR is now examining and assessing the impacts of other ETC projects across the state (including SunPass, E-Pass, Ricken-backer Causeway, and Venetian Causeway). Issues being examined include compatibility, interoperability, user feature preferences, what technologies are being used, user acceptance levels, successful marketing initiatives, and other aspects of a successful ETC program that Lee County may want to duplicate. CUTR is also performing computer simulation modeling of the toll plazas to determine the optimum plaza configuration.
Completion of Phase One required almost a year, and the final report is being reviewed by the FHWA before the start of Phase Two. The main finding of the Phase One report was that congestion pricing is feasible and mostly likely beneficial. Once Phase One is approved, funding for the second phase (approximately $19 million) will be awarded, and the installation of ETC and variable pricing toll rates will begin. Phase Two is currently scheduled to occur over a three-year period. Throughout this phase, CUTR will continue to provide technical assistance to Lee County in all aspects of their variable pricing program, particularly with the ETC system.
For more information on this project, contact CUTR Research Associate Mark Burris at burris@cutr.usf.edu, (813) 974-9809.
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