Tolls More Equitable Than Sales Tax For Funding Freeways

You’ve heard the buzz about “Lexus Lanes,” a new trend where tolls are adjusted in order to keep some freeway lanes flowing smoothly. They’re related to the idea of charging higher prices for parking, or even a congestion charge such as the one considered for New York City. It’s widely thought the lanes are unfair, since they allow wealthy drivers to zip past congestion. There’s only one problem with that view: a new study disproved it, arguing instead toll lanes are more just than the usual method for funding highways, sales taxes.

Two California professors considered the issue in a new article titled, “Just Pricing: The Distributional Effects of Congestion Pricing and Sales Taxes.” The study found that the lanes were disproportionately used by middle and upper-middle income people, and that the tolls were regressive. So what’s the rub? It turns out the usual means for paying for transportation infrastructure, such as sales and gas taxes, are even more regressive than tolls. In fact, the study concludes that:

… if [sales tax] funds had been used to finance the express lanes, the study found, the poor and wealthy would have paid more. Middle- and upper-middle-income taxpayers would have paid $26 million less each year than they paid under the current cost-distribution system, and the very poorest residents would have paid over $3 million more than they actually did under the current toll system.

They conclude that “Using sales taxes to fund roadways creates substantial savings to drivers by shifting some of the costs of driving from drivers to consumers at large, and in the process disproportionately favors the more affluent at the expense of the impoverished.” The authors propose two policies to overcome the remaining regressive character of tolls: giving out free travel credits to low income commuters, or using the funds to invest in public transit. The comparison is between tolls and general sales taxes, not gas taxes, but I suspect gas taxes would have been only slightly less regressive than sales taxes. (Because the poor own fewer cars and drive less)

Previously I also suggested we should consider other benefits of congestion pricing in the equation - greater transportation choice for all (including low-income commuters), less pollution, and perhaps a shift in behavior towards transit, carpooling, or other more efficient modes. I also discussed before some of the implications for another form of congestion pricing — raising parking meter rates.

What most frustrates me with congestion pricing critics is not their concern — not enough research has been done on equity, and it is a valid point to discuss — but how misplaced it seems given our skewed policies. Our society is riddled with deeply regressive policies. Sales taxes, gas taxes, and lotteries are all known to be regressive. We spend more than twice as much money subsidizing housing for the rich than we do for the poor. The poor disproportionately live near sources of pollution, and consequently have higher rates of asthma, heart disease, and other diseases caused by environmental factors. Meanwhile, our public transit systems, critical lifelines to opportunity for the very poor, are crumbling. In that light, adopting less-regressive congestion pricing and spending some of the revenue on transit service seems like a good decision.

> UCLA: “Joint UCLA–USC study shows that toll roads are more fair than taxes”
> LATimes Blog: “Study finds congestion pricing doesn’t hurt the poor”

Interesting Freeway Interchanges of the Capital Region

American taxpayers have spent trillions of dollars building freeways since the passage of the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956. This network of freeways has re-shaped American cities, and arguably impacted the economy and culture of the country. While some enthusiasts find interest in the highway system’s endless strips of asphalt, for most the only true drama within the system is contained in freeway interchanges, where one or more freeways intersect. Although designed by traffic engineers, interchanges can contain dramatic ramps and intriguing shapes from above. One artist even took inspiration from the world’s freeway interchanges to design a set of tiles featuring their shapes.

Of these highways, Washington, D.C.’s Capital Beltway is among the more famous, as a symbolic dividing line between the national capital and the rest of the country. Let’s take a look at some of the interchanges in and around the beltway, to see what they reveal. We will approach the city from the north on Maryland’s I-270. Here, that highway branches in two as we approach the beltway.

If we travel East on the beltway we come across this interchange near College Park where I-95 intersects the beltway. Original plans for Washington’s freeway system included an extensive network of urban freeways that were never built — this interchange was designed to accommodate a never-built leg of I-95 extending to the District. Today, University of Maryland officials are advocating a freeway connecting this interchange to their campus.

As we continue along the beltway we come to this recently rebuilt interchange between the Capital Beltway and Route 50 in Prince George’s County. This photo shows the close relationship between Washington’s freeway and Metrorail system. From the very beginning the systems were designed somewhat in tandem and the train was intended to carry visitors into the city after arriving this far by auto. Here, special onramps connect the beltway to the New Carrollton Metro Station.

Continuing around the beltway we encounter the Springfield Interchange, one of several interchanges around the country known popularly as “The Mixing Bowl.” Here the beltway intersects both I-395 and I-95, and the interchange was long one of the most dangerous stretches of the beltway. In 1999, the Virginia Department of Transportation began an 8-year project to re-design the interchange in a project that is currently estimated to cost in excess of $670 million before it is complete.

As we continue around we come to the last I’ve selected for inclusion — this interchange where the beltway meets Route 50/Arlington Boulevard.

Interchanges Elsewhere

Interestingly, perhaps because of the investment in Metro, the scale and number of the freeway interchanges in the region is not notable from a national perspective. This image of the Big Dig in Boston gives a good idea of the scope of that project.

Unlike Washington, the city of Detroit did actually construct the entire network of urban freeways planned for that city, including some truly massive interchanges like this one, between I-96 and the Southfield Freeway.

Much more is written about interchange design and the Washington region’s freeways elsewhere on the web, so I won’t go into detail here. What am I missing? What is your favorite (or least favorite) interchange in the region?

References

> Scott M. Kozel’s Roads to the Future (Transportation history for VA, MD, DC)
> Kurumi’s Field Guide to Interchanges
> Springfield Interchange Improvement Project
> Google Earth Community: Crazy Highway Interchanges thread