Los Angeles traffic, perhaps the only experience other than Real Analysis in Evans to force me to ponder the pros and cons of suicide, is the kind of phenomenon that causes you to give up friends and family altogether, provided they live in the godforsaken jungle and the only way to get to them is the 210E or 405 in any direction.
After the relative success of congestion pricing –charging high fees to consumers for goods/services during times of heavy use– on roadways in places like London (20% fewer cars on the road) and Singapore (40% reduction in AM traffic),* some think implementing such fees on Southern California freeways may be a better alternative to the gasoline tax which, at pennies on the gallon goes virtually unnoticed by consumers and will consequently have little effect on their driving behaviors until our gasoline prices catch up with the rest of the world (Iran excluded).**As a consumer, I’d welcome congestion pricing with open arms, and expect that such fees would alter my own driving habits (I currently travel by way of a toll road twice daily –one that employs congestion pricing), and thus those of my commuting peers, in the following ways:
- Gives people somewhat objective means to make more efficient decisions regarding where to live –incentivizes moving closer to workplaces… maybe you’d have thought twice about moving to Temecula if you had to price in a $10 daily charge to use the 405 to get to your office in Marina Del Rey –don’t laugh, people do this.
- Encourages deviations from the typical workday schedule that have positive effects on the rest of the commuter’s life: for instance, I drive to work at 6am, and because the schedule is so ingrained in my psyche, even if I try, I can’t sleep past 7am on any day. Consequently, I’m always the first in line for bullshit errands that I can’t outsource.
- Encourages people to be more mindful when deciding whether/how to use the roads; paying for a good has that effect on people. I find that commuters on the toll road I use are more likely to adhere to the unique speeds unofficially ascribed to each lane –you find less jams caused by the schmucks driving at the exact same speed as the guy in the lane directly adjacent to them, the same men and women who refuse to speed up or slow down in order to let anyone pass unless one blinks their headlights profusely and, in cases of real dimwits, pulls out the horn for an unpleasant start to the day: activist driving –at some point you cease believing that the hurled insults of guys like Dan Loeb make them a$$ holes, and a newfound respect washes over their images in your mind Read the rest of this entry »
