Reason Foundation makes a case for more toll lanes in southern California

S public policy think tank the Reason Foundation has unveiled a detailed long-range transportation plan to reduce the traffic congestion that has plagued southern California for decades. The Reason Foundation plan would decrease southern California’s infamous gridlock by creating a connected network of variably priced toll lanes on all of the region’s major highways and expressways
November 24, 2015 Read time: 2 mins

US public policy think tank the Reason Foundation has unveiled a detailed long-range transportation plan to reduce the traffic congestion that has plagued southern California for decades.

The Reason Foundation plan would decrease southern California’s infamous gridlock by creating a connected network of variably priced toll lanes on all of the region’s major highways and expressways, building six mega-projects to fill in major missing links in the freeway system, creating more than 500 new tolled over- and under-passes at bottlenecked interchanges, expanding the routes and increasing the frequency of bus rapid transit and express bus service, and implementing a series of technological advances to improve accident clearing and stoplight synchronicity.

Traffic modelling forecasts show that toll revenues, not taxpayers, would fund $362 billion of the construction costs, over half of the total price tag. The remaining amount would be paid for through existing transportation funding streams.

Additionally, the area’s carpool lanes would be converted to toll lanes, creating a sustainable revenue stream for maintenance.

“Drivers in Southern California experience an astonishing 80 hours of delay each year due to traffic congestion in the region — that is two work-weeks of lost productivity per person,” said former US Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters.

“The Reason Foundation report offers solid solutions to these challenges that do not require tax increases and would improve mobility options for all users in the region. I commend the innovative solutions proposed in it.”

“Southern California is facing crucial transportation decisions,” said Baruch Feigenbaum, author of Reason Foundation’s Southern California Mobility Plan. “The region’s current long-range mobility plans admit that traffic congestion will only get worse, even after taxpayers spend over $600 billion on transportation. By focusing on reducing congestion and replacing expensive, ineffective rail proposals with cost-effective buses, Reason’s plan improves mobility for drivers and transit users. And it does so without tax increases.”

Charging, Tolling & RUC

Related Content

  • Emissions reductions targets to have major impact on transport
    October 28, 2015
    As bold moves aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions have been introduced in California, David Crawford looks at the ramifications for transportation. California Governor Jerry Brown’s recent dramatic raising of the bar on emissions reduction policy for the state has won him praise from Japan, Australia, Europe and the secretariat of the critical UN conference on climate change being held in Paris in November/December 2015. His April 2015 executive order aimed at bringing emissions to 40% below 1990 lev
    Read More
  • Traffic congestion costs UK business millions each year
    November 29, 2016
    Traffic congestion is costing UK businesses approximately US$957 million (£767 million) a year in lost productivity, according to research conducted by TomTom. The TomTom Traffic Index has found traffic across the UK’s 25 most congested cities and towns increases the time each vehicle spends on the road by an average of 127 hours a year. And the situation seems to be getting worse. An average journey in 2015 took 29 per cent longer than it would in free-flowing conditions, up from a 25 per cent delay
    Read More
  • Don’t look at the jigsaw pieces – see the whole puzzle, says CCTA
    February 19, 2024
    There are three main barriers to taking transport ideas from the pilot stage to real-life usage: incompatible technology, local control and limited funding. Tim Haile of California’s Contra Costa Transportation Authority has some thoughts on how to overcome them
    Read More
  • Tolls ‘on the rise as highway funding dries up’
    April 9, 2015
    The US-based Brookings Institution has commented on the highway funding debate in the US in a paper by Robert Puentes, a senior fellow with the Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program He says that, as uncertainties abound over federal transportation spending and another shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund looms, states and localities are stepping up to address their infrastructure challenges head on. By raising gas taxes, launching ballot initiatives, and forging public-private partnerships, regions ar
    Read More

Highlighted Content