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

  • Government publishes programme of upgrades to major roads and motorways
    June 30, 2017
    The UK government has unveiled a US$8 billion (£6.1 billion) programme of road improvements as part of its US$30 billion (£23 billion) upgrade to the road network in England.
    Read More
  • Scrap all-lane running plans, say MPs
    June 30, 2016
    Plans to convert hundreds of miles of UK motorway hard shoulder into permanent driving lanes should be scrapped while major safety concerns exist, the Government’s Transport Committee has said. In 'all lane running', the latest version of smart motorways, the hard shoulder is used as a live lane of traffic. Previous schemes have only used the hard shoulder at peak times or to deal with congestion. The Committee did not agree with Government that this is an incremental change and a logical extension of
    Read More
  • Secretary Foxx sends six-year transportation bill to Congress
    March 31, 2015
    Over the past year, US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has visited more than 100 communities and heard one common story about crumbling infrastructure and dwindling resources to fix it with. Foxx has now sent to Congress his solution to this problem: a long-term transportation bill that provides funding growth and certainty so that state and local governments can get back in the business of building things again. The Grow America Act reflects President Obama’s vision for a six-year, US$478 billion
    Read More
  • Golden Gate Bridge to debut all-electronic tolling
    March 11, 2013
    After two years of planning, all-electronic tolling will begin on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge on 27 March. In 2011, when the bridge district was facing a five-year shortfall of US$89 million, the Highway and Transportation District approved a plan to pursue all-electronic tolling as a cost-saving measure. The district will trim its expenses by US$16 million over the next decade as a result of the new system. According to bridge district spokeswoman Mary Currie, the bridge will be the first in Califo
    Read More

Highlighted Content