IBTTA Extols Tolls as a Behavior Management Tool on National Radio Show

IBTTA Executive Director and CEO Patrick Jones closed out 2017 with a mid-December appearance on All Things Considered, a nationally-syndicated public affairs program on National Public Radio.

What began as a conversation about a $40 peak toll along Virginia’s I-66 new managed lane corridor ended up a primer on how tolls can shift commuters’ behavior and ease highway congestion. Jones got to tell the story alongside Aubrey Layne, Transportation Secretary for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

“This is the kind of opportunity we work hard to create—a chance to reach a wider public audience with factual, educational messaging on the value of tolling,” Jones says. “Moving into 2018, we plan to continue educating and informing the general public, the media and policy makers about the benefits of tolling and other forms of user financing.”

10 Miles for $40

NPR traces the managed lane along I-66 back to early 1980s, when an HOV route was built between Washington, DC and suburban Virginia to accommodate rush hour carpools and buses.

“Over the years, officials have opened it up to hybrids and a few other exemptions, and in recent years, scofflaw single drivers violating the high-occupancy-vehicle-only law helped choke the road with gridlock,” wrote NPR correspondent David Schaper.

“So, Virginia's Department of Transportation is trying something controversial: ending free rides for hybrids, expanding the restricted hours and allowing solo drivers to use the road for a price.” That price—a peak of $40—was the point of departure for Schaper’s story.

It’s Not About the Money

NPR found one local commuter who understood he could avoid paying any toll at all along the HOV lane by having a second occupant in his car. The story also captured the voices of a couple of drivers who objected—vehemently—to paying such a high toll. And sure enough, in the first week of the new year, the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission called for a late spring evaluation report on I-66’s toll operations and their effect on commuter patterns, though it stopped short of calling for lower toll rates.

But on the All Things Considered segment, Layne said the state would just as soon not collect a toll that one driver cast as “extraordinary” and “extreme.”

"What the toll is saying is, 'We don't want you to use it.' I personally wouldn't pay that toll," he said. "We are definitely trying to change behavior because we have limited resources. We don't have the money nor the political will to continue to build highways."

Pat Jones’ essential contribution to the segment was to put the Virginia experience in a wider context, citing the 40 priced-managed lanes already in operation in 11 states.

"You definitely are going to see much more tolling for general purposes, and you're going to see tolling like the price-managed lanes on I-66 to alleviate congestion," he told NPR. "I think, in fact, we are underpaying. We've underpriced the highway system, and evidence of that is the congestion that we see in our urban areas.”

Click here for audio of the All Things Considered segment on tolling, featuring IBTTA’s Pat Jones. And check out the preliminary program for IBTTA’s Managed Lanes, AET & Technology Summit, April 22-24, 2018 in Charlotte, NC.