Tolling and Pricing Program
photos of highway traffic and toll booths
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Value Pricing Pilot Program

Program Announcements

Federal Register Notice
August 5, 2009

Value Pricing Pilot Program Participation, Fiscal Years 2009 and 2010 (HTML, PDF 64KB) - ACTION: Notice; solicitation for participation.

New Publication: Policy Options Evaluation Tool for Managed Lanes (POET-ML) Users Guide and Methodology Description (HTML, PDF 1.7MB) - Intended for an audience of transportation professionals responsible for planning, designing, funding, operating, enforcing, monitoring, and managing HOV and HOT lanes, and considering conversion of HOV to HOT lanes. (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-09-031)

VPP Quarterly Report (April - June 2009) - Each quarter, projects authorized under the Value Pricing Pilot Program are updated to provide the most current VPP program information on active projects being studied as well as projects that have been implemented.

Value Pricing Pilot Program Awards $6 million in Grants that Encourage Innovative Ways to Tackle Congestion

New Publication: Port Peak Pricing Program Evaluation (HTML, PDF 1.2MB) - (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-09-014)

Congestion Pricing Primer Series - The Congestion Pricing Primer Series is part of FHWA's outreach efforts to introduce the various aspects of congestion pricing to decision-makers and transportation professionals in the United States.

The Value Pricing Pilot (VPP) program, initially authorized in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) as the Congestion Pricing Pilot Program, and most recently renewed with the passage of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), encourages implementation and evaluation of value pricing pilot projects to manage congestion on highways through tolling and other pricing mechanisms. This is the only program that provides funding to support studies and implementation aspects of a tolling or pricing project. The program is limited to 15 slots (which FHWA has reserved for "states") of which only one vacancy remains. Each state can have multiple projects.

SAFETEA-LU provides a total of $59 million for fiscal years (FY) 2005-2009 for the VPP program. $11 million was authorized for FY 2005 and $12 million was authorized for each of FYs 2006 through 2009. Of the amounts made available to carry out the program, $3 million will be set-aside in each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2009 for value pricing projects that do not involve highway tolls. Funds available for the VPP program can be used to support pre-implementation study activities and to pay for implementation costs of value pricing projects.

Program Highlights

  • The site includes a link to the Quarterly Projects Report. The report features a description of the various types of pricing projects. In addition, it includes information about any projects funded under the VPP program, as well as any project that has received authority to toll under the VPP program.
  • 2007 - 2008 Value Pricing Funds were awarded to Urban Partnership projects.
  • Value pricing concepts that have become mainstream and have been adopted, as common practice, such as High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV)-to-High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lane conversions, will not be funded.
  • Non Highway Tolls
    • Innovative parking pricing strategies, including (a) surcharges for entering or exiting a parking facility during or near peak periods, and (b) a range of parking cash-out policies, where cash is offered to employees in lieu of subsidized parking, parking operators reimburse monthly patrons for unused parking days, or renters or purchasers in multi-family housing developments are provided direct financial saving for not availing of car parking spaces.
    • Pay-as-you-drive pricing, including car insurance premiums set on a per-mile basis and innovative car ownership, leasing, and usage arrangements that reduce fixed costs and increase variable usage costs.

Program Projects

Resources

Program Contacts

Angela Jacobs
Angela.Jacobs@dot.gov
202-366-0076

Allen Greenberg
Allen.Greenberg@dot.gov
202-366-2425