Comments on: We Need Congestion Pricing

By: Kiran

Kiran — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:19:23 +0000

A helpful thing is that we have a river. Put a toll on every potomac crossing at peak times. You may say that that is biased against Virginia, but the wealthiest people in the area live in NoVa [I live by Dunn Loring, I don't commute into the city, but I'm not just hating on Virginia].

Virginia benefits by having a silver line, and the columbia pike streetcar, and maybe another metro potomac river crossing [separate blue line]. Eventually the purple line across to Maryland, etc.

Start out at a dollar, and raise it a dollar a year for 10 years. Give everyone a chance to adjust before it becomes crushingly expensive.

Eventually we can have a comprehensive district wide system. But adding tolls to bridges probably takes several years less than a comprehensive congestion pricing system.

By: Douglas Willinger

Douglas Willinger — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:40:41 +0000

Your essay sounds more like a good argument for building some freeways, particularly the I-66 K Street Tunnel.

By: The Bellows » Time for a District Congestion Charge

The Bellows » Time for a District Congestion Charge — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:21:54 +0000

[...] says Rob Goodspeed, and I couldn’t agree more. A number of writers I respect feel that this step isn’t [...]

By: reyonthehill

reyonthehill — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:15:05 +0000

I missed up my html in my previous comment. This is the link to the SF Chronicle article that I intended to reference in the "idea resurfaces."

By: reyonthehill

reyonthehill — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:59:14 +0000

San Francisco tried doing this a couple years ago, but it eventually went the wayside due to its unpopularity, but every now and then, the idea resurfaces. It is a great idea; I think the logistics of implementing it will be difficult (toll booths, etc.)