(San Francisco, Casey Miner, KALW) It wasn’t so long ago that carpooling on the Bay Area’s bridges was free. Alas, those days are no more. As of July 1, tolls rose on all Bay Area bridges. Carpooling now costs $2.50; the regular toll is $6 (up from $4). It’s an experiment with congestion pricing: Local transit officials are betting they can reduce traffic by making it more expensive to drive during the most crowded times of day.
The data is still coming in, but so far the plan seems to be working. On the Bay Bridge, rush hour delays have fallen by nearly half. There have been some other interesting results as well—for example, 12,000 fewer cars drove through the carpool lanes last month.
Why fewer carpoolers? Congestion pricing adds utility to the auto. Drivers alter the frequency of trips, making fewer trips into town but packing more activity into each trip, using personal auto. This is a recovery from time and energy saved. The greater choices adds to transportation utility, pushing local GDP up.
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