Compilation of Public Opinion Data on Tolls and Road Pricing (2008)

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Given the widespread concerns about congestion and the need for infrastructure expansion, an increase in local and regional proposals to price transportation capacity to both generate rev- enue and manage transportation demand is inevitable. Under- standing public opinion on tolling and road pricing in this context is of enormous importance to transportation policy. Some proposals will be virtually meaningless without refer- ence to public opinion. It is therefore not surprising that policy makers and practitioners have come to increasingly focus on public opinion regarding charging for the use of roads. This topic often dominates the local media and regularly influences political campaigns from the mayor’s to the governor’s office, and throughout the legislative branch. Our study indicated that, in the aggregate, the public sup- ports tolling and road pricing. A number of factors influence public opinion, including the type of pricing, whether clarify- ing or additional information is presented, the use of revenues, and communication of the benefits of pricing concept. Public opinion measures of support or opposition were also associated with survey methods factors, including sponsor of the research, target respondent population, or wording of questions. Given these results, it is obvious that there is a separation or disconnect between political perceptions of the public atti- tude toward tolling and actual opinions. The following exam- ple from Illinois is just one way in which this disconnect plays out in policy making. The Chicago Tribune survey in Illinois, which was reported in chapter three, was in direct response to a proposal by the Illinois governor to remove tolls from the Illinois Tollway. That entire proposal resulted from the per- ception by the governor that the public was opposed to tolls and wanted tolls removed. The survey actually showed that the majority did not want the tolls removed and were willing to increase tolls to maintain and reconstruct the system. However, popular discourse would have one believe that the public is opposed to tolling and road pricing. The political nature of a community and its interest groups often shape the public debate and can obscure the majority opinion on the issue. A vocal minority can often transform what is an intrin- sically complex subject matter into an object of politicking. Rather than stimulate discussion, the transformation of pric- ing into a political issue has in some places resulted in poli- cies that possess superficial majority appeal but fail to address the real issues of how to deal with infrastructure financing or congestion management. 48 Specific research efforts are needed to focus on shifts in public opinion over time, particularly in the context of regional or local initiatives—from the idea stages to implementation and ultimately usage by the public. It is important to track both support and opposition across any variations in project type and to document how public opinion can shift as con- ditions become more severe or new initiatives reach the pub- lic sphere. Before-and-after surveys were implemented in high-occupancy toll lane evaluations in San Diego (I-15) and Minneapolis (I-394). These designs, referred to as panel or longitudinal designs in the survey literature, provide direct information on how the attitudes, opinions, or behavior of indi- vidual households or individuals change over time in response to other factors. Although both surveys yielded important find- ings, both encountered unforeseen methodological challenges. Although panel designs have enjoyed widespread use in other fields, they have rarely been adopted in transportation surveys in the United States. Research is needed not only to document how these designs can be used to address a variety of trans- portation policy and planning issues, but also how to better design and execute panel surveys. Higgins in “Congestion Pricing: Public Polling Perspective” concluded, “Good sur- vey design will illuminate shifts in the magnitude and inten- sity of opposition and support as well as in net effects.” Guidance on best practice survey methods in general and, more specifically on reporting public opinion survey results, is needed to ensure better comparisons across locations or timeframes and for better evaluating how the public perceives diverse options related to pricing. The quality of survey data is not always questioned as much as it might be. Recently, concerns have been expressed about various aspects of survey quality. Partly, these concerns stem from increased awareness and understanding of quality issues and improved methods for estimating their effects on analysis, and partly from an awareness of possible future trends that could further jeopar- dize survey quality. In particular, the survey research field has noted from several sources an increasing concern with declin- ing response rates. However, response rates are rarely reported when measures of public opinion are reported in the media or by other sponsoring organizations. This research would seek to develop standardized procedures for improving the con- duct, reporting, evaluation, and reliability of public opinion surveys on tolling and road pricing. Tolling and road pricing have become part of contemporary transportation planning and policy making vernacular out of the CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

49 need to address traffic congestion and infrastructure funding short-falls. However, the public still lacks credible, available information on these issues. Guidebooks could be developed to assist state departments of transportation and other transporta- tion agencies in more effectively and proactively communicat- ing, to decision makers and the public, the benefits and chal- lenges in tolling and road pricing. The key research question to be answered is: “How can the value of pricing and tolling be communicated to influence the perceptions of potential cus- tomers and decision makers?” The objective of this project would be to develop a guide for successfully communicating the value of tolling and road pricing for individuals, communi- ties, and societies. The material in the guide would be based on the results of communications research and best practices. The industry should also consider a scoping study for a Pricing Data Exchange Network. Good pricing data exist, and the data are available from many public and private sources that vary by collection method, timeframe, format, and qual- ity. For potential users of such data, a major limitation comes from knowing which data are available. For data providers, a major limitation is finding ways to let users know what data are available. One possible way to minimize these limitations is to establish an exchange network for pricing data that enables data providers and data users to share data efficiently and securely over the Internet. This scoping study would investi- gate new approaches to providing timely access to higher qual- ity data while saving time, resources, and money. A workable approach could centralize as much data as possible and allow participants to freely add and access data. Data providers or users would have the ability to enter or access datasets and add meta-data as well as reports of quality or other data issues. It would provide a versatile tool for researchers, engineers, plan- ners, and operations personnel. Such a system would not only increase the use of data and statistics from all available sources, but also would increase the demand for improvements in the completeness, quality, and timeliness of the data; and in their collection, processing, and distribution.