The Federal Highway Administration Congestion Pricing Primer describes the congestion problem and how various forms of congestion pricing would mitigate it. Demonstrated benefits of domestically and internationally implemented projects are discussed. Read More.
The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America's Transportation Network, otherwise known as the Congestion Initiative, called on the Department to enter into Urban Partnership Agreements with model cities, pursuant to their commitment to, among other things, implement "broad congestion pricing."
In December 2006, the Department issued a Federal Register Notice soliciting cities to apply for Urban Partnership status by April 30, 2007, and promising that the selected cities would receive priority consideration for available Federal discretionary funds (about $1 billion) across about a dozen programs. To receive program funds, cities were also required to submit applications to the appropriate program offices. (Identical applications were accepted if all program application requirements were met.) The Department sought applicants to aggressively use four complementary and synergistic strategies (referred to as the "4Ts") to relieve urban congestion: Tolling, Transit, Telecommuting, and Technology. Full-day workshops were held in March 2007 in Washington, DC, Denver, and Atlanta to educate potential applicants about the Congestion Initiative and Urban Partnerships. Additionally, a web conference was held on April 4, 2007, and material from the web conference is available on the National Transportation Operations Coalition Web site. (To request a copy of the CD containing all workshop presentations, e-mail: OperationsFeedback@dot.gov).
In June 2007, the Secretary of Transportation, Mary Peters, announced the selection of nine Preliminary Urban Partners, all of which were invited to make their case personally and directly to her. Also follow up presentations were made to the professional transportation community at the Transportation Research Board's "Innovations in Pricing" Workshop.
In August 2007, the Secretary announced five final urban partners: Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle. Select a city to view the urban partnership descriptions.
In August 2007, the Secretary announced five final urban partners: Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle. A total of $853 million in Federal discretionary grants for these partners was also announced.
The Department's Congestion Initiative and Urban Partnerships have been critically acclaimed in the press. Continue to watch this space for follow up information about the status of the programs of these five partners and also announcements about follow on opportunities for additional cities to participate in the program beginning in FY 2008.
The Department continues to work with States and cities throughout the nation, whether Urban Partners or not, to use tolling and pricing strategies to reduce congestion and to raise revenues to support needed transportation improvements. The FHWA Office of Operations provides information about the full range of tolling and pricing opportunities available through Federal law. The Tolling and Pricing team guides individual States and jurisdictions that submit an Expression of Interest to the use of the appropriate Federal authority and technical approach to implement transportation pricing projects.
To view PDF files, you need the Adobe Acrobat Reader.