Congestion Management Strategies: Taking the Road Less Traveled

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My focus in this post is assessing two congestion management strategies: making driving harder/more costly, or making other modes of transportation ‘better’ in whatever context is relevant to the user.

Congestion pricing is certainly a hot topic within congestion management discussions. However, I wonder why it remains at the forefront of addressing the issue when it is met with such a high degree of public opposition. In Road Pricing and Public Transit, Kenneth Small writes, “Rather than mass transit being the solution to congestion, perhaps congestion pricing – a measure often viewed as an alternative to transit – could be transit’s savior.” Although I think congestion pricing would provide a reduction in congestion, I wonder why the efforts to reduce congestion are focused on making driving “harder” or more costly, rather than making other modes easier or more accessible to use.

            For example, earlier in the term we read Joan Didion’s piece entitled Bureaucrats. In her writing she’s analyzing the Operations Center in Los Angeles of the California Department of Transportation or CalTrans, and quotes a director saying, “We are beginning a process of deliberately making it harder for drivers to use freeways…we are prepared to endure considerable public outcry in order to pry John Q. Public out of his car.” Even with the increased difficult imposed by CalTrans, LA still has congestion problems that will more than likely continue for years to come.

Gainesville, FL has taken a contrasting approach to congestion management by focusing efforts on bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure (Dixon 1). By incorporating level-of-service (LOS) performance measure for bicycle and pedestrian facilities, the city hopes to see a reduction in congestion without completely hindering personal vehicle use. Congestion pricing is a common suggestion to mitigate crowded roadways, however I encourage cities such as Portland to find more innovative solutions.

Written by: Jensen Perrick
Edited by: Minju Kim


References

Didion, Joan. (1976). Bureaucrat., The White Album.

Dixon, L. (1996, 01). Bicycle and Pedestrian Level-of-Service Performance Measures and
Standards for Congestion Management Systems. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 1538, 1-9. doi:10.3141/1538-01

Small, K. A. Road Pricing and Public Transit. Access 5 (2005), 10-15.

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