Road Pricing: Public Perceptions and Program Development (2011) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix E - Interview Summaries Related to Planning for Road Pricing
Appendix E - Interview Summaries Related to Planning for Road Pricing
Pages 95-113
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From page 95... ...
A P P E N D I X E Interview Summaries Related to Planning for Road Pricing Location and Project San Francisco Bay Area, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Regional HOT Network RP Emergence Factors HOT concept gaining in acceptance in Bay Area by virtue of acceptable HOT project proposals (relatively near term in 4 corridors authorized under current state law: 580 Tri Valley, 680 Sunol, 85 & 101 in Santa Clara) ; work of Alameda County CMA especially vital; 680 important stepping stone, deriving in large part from Alameda County CMA work and 1990 VP grant; interest emerging in some other corridors (I-80 in Solano County)
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From page 96... ...
. Location and Project San Francisco Bay Area, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Regional HOT Network Role of Federal Government in RP No barriers via tolling interstate restrictions for network development Planning guidance from Fed less helpful than best practices studies and documents, and "excellent" pilot program Federal certification process has not been issue for developing pricing plans, either pro or con; process is "big sleeper" Public, Stakeholder Involvement in RP Plans HOT Executive Committee of stakeholders vital to formulation and agreement on terms: CMA Directors, BATA (toll authority collecting bridge tolls in Bay Area)
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From page 97... ...
free lanes already paid for by gas tax revenues will not be tolled. Bottom line: if additional capacity is necessary and it can be tolled, it will be tolled due to anticipated revenue needs for maintenance and reconstruction Presence of local toll authority meant that no further authority was needed from the state to start tolling, so MPO was free to plan Fiscal constraint provision added to ISTEA in 1991 led to realization that gas tax funds would fall short in the future I-635, Dallas-Fort Worth Connector, and North Tarrant expressway are existing freeways being expanded to include central tolled/managed lanes, often with more free lanes than before expansion In 2009, economic trends have led to media support from sources earlier opposed to pricing, given the state's lack of revenues RP Relation to Planning Processes The MPO, NCTCOG has successfully integrated tolling/pricing into the planning process since 1991 MPO has been using detailed simulation models to include new toll roads, toll road conversions, and express lanes in their plan Do not use the term HOT lanes, but managed lanes or tolled express lanes because their facilities are dynamically priced, with guaranteed speeds, flexible operations, and incident management capabilities; therefore they are more comprehensive while HOT lanes imply only two key features -- high occupancy and tolls Have gone through full Environmental Impact Review process for managed lanes, including special Environmental Justice component not just for overall plan but for each toll road; addressed equity impacts, e.g., by building 20-mile new passenger rail line on the SH 121 project, being built by public sector from revenues obtained from an upfront toll road payment For most toll road projects, revenues will go to roadway improvements, a significant share of revenues will go to air quality improvements, and another for a 20-mile passenger rail system Only one increase in gas tax in the 1990s in Texas and the money was diverted to other purposes; no current push to increase it, therefore MPO is working in public-private partnerships in design-build or designbuild finance arrangements For the PPP projects, tolls will be used to pay back operating costs and to pay the upfront payment to construct the road; 30-40% of total construction cost is being paid by public sector through gas tax money and 60-70% by private sector through revenues obtained from the managed lane Role of Air Quality, CMP, Planning Regulation and Guidance for RP Plan All above toll facilities were included in the long-range MTP in the mid-90s Once fiscal constraint provision was added, any new freeways went into the plan as toll roads; because the region is large, trip lengths typically justify express lanes Dallas is in an air-quality non-attainment region, so all air quality conformity plans and mobile source emissions inventories are totally integrated into RP/managed lane planning
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From page 98... ...
Role of Federal Government in RP Federal support is important; federal ISTEA legislation that introduced financial constraint requirement in 1991 considered most important Believes that all MPOs would come up with innovative funding means of transportation investment if they followed the procedures of this requirement and did due diligence Federal programs such as Value Pricing Pilot Program and Express Lanes Demonstration Program have been important -- NCTCOG pursued every such innovative federal program, winning some bids and losing some NCTCOG won an innovative FHWA grant to get funding for I-30 that will be used as a permanent managed lane test corridor comprising 8-lane freeway and 4-lane tolled expressway in the middle, with plans to test any policy first in this corridor before applying it to all others -- e.g., providing frequent flier miles to travelers as incentive to car pool and use express lanes Federal air quality standards (conformity with ozone requirement) support managed lane innovations and increasing auto occupancy -- idea of converting HOV to managed lanes "would not have got its wings if we couldn't pin it back to ozone problem." On relationship of RP to federal planning requirements and CMP, "felt that feds were late to the game and we were plowing ground by ourselves for a long time before that" Public, Stakeholder Involvement in RP Plans All of NCTCOG's 40 elected officials are unanimous in supporting pricing, given the absence of leadership and revenues at federal or state level -- most likely the result of strong, focused monthly communication on rationale and purpose of pricing from NCTCOG targeted at these officials Initial opposition (in 1995)
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From page 99... ...
, SH 161, I-635, Dallas–Fort Worth Connector, and North Tarrant Expressway (planned) , I-30, I-35E, Southwest Parkway "Well-orchestrated bottom-up approach" that uses a very strong analytical/modeling and planning process showing performance measures about real costs of the transportation system and how much people are under-paying -- sustainability is a key message, before the need for revenues Maximizing Attention to RP in Planning -- Barriers and Opportunities Opportunities: New transportation bill should continue to support and lay framework for alternative funding mechanisms -- just as fed fiscal constraint requirement provided an opportunity A federal policy that is explicit about the lack of revenues to solve problems in urban regions will help MPOs when they approach state legislature for approval to implement pricing and other ways to raise funds Believes it is harder to build toll roads and managed lanes without an integrated plan that is communicated well and constantly Because toll roads have existed in the region, people are familiar with the concept and the critics don't have much of an argument because the toll roads are successful Barriers: State opposition to PPPs likely due to involvement of international firms as concessionaires ("some sort of xenophobia")
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From page 100... ...
prior to approval from state legislature Parking pricing program for downtown is led by LA city State DOT director supported RP from the start and this was essential for moving the project forward. State DOT helped with technical analysis Role of Federal Government in RP Federal UPA grant initiated the process, then U.S.DOT grant required increased focus on pricing, leading to consideration of RP Feds funded value pricing study in 1995, determining that HOT lanes were the most feasible RP project, but no funding available Fed role enhanced at Oct 2007 LACMTA regular Board Meeting where Asst.
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From page 101... ...
, elected officials, and other agencies like Highways Patrol. Also formed Technical Advisory Group with representatives from partner agencies and other stakeholders Maximizing Attention to RP in Planning -- Barriers and Opportunities Opportunities: U.S.DOT grant opportunity provided incentive for change Short timeline for implementation led to choice of practical, focused strategies Part of grant funds used to purchase transit buses to begin operation before tolling began Planning and pilot implementation, role of key federal actor who was a good communicator, role of LACMTA project management staff who recommended to the Board to support congestion pricing Project was consistent with the Governor's Strategic Plan for implementation of HOT lanes HOT lanes were not approached as individual projects, but included transit and parking pricing in an integrated approach for managing congestion in LA HOT lanes controversial by themselves; so transit component was built into project to encourage mode shift and gain public support.
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From page 102... ...
The ICC was the first such facility to be given a firm go ahead and the project was adopted In response to rapidly worsening congestion and funding shortfalls to address it, in mid-2000s, Virginia DOT opted to pursue private–public partnership route for the two most congested corridors in the region, I-495 beltway and I-395/I-95; VDOT is now implementing these 2 PPP projects RP Relation to Planning Processes While not initially considered in the plan, now all three projects have been adopted in the region's long-range plan In early 2000s, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments/National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (MWCOG/TPB) modified their regional travel/traffic forecasting models to enable assessment of impacts of HOT lane projects in the region; updated model system is now being used for assessing numerous regional pricing studies Maryland DOT is currently conducting a corridor planning study in the I-270 corridor in which pricing options are under consideration Use of well-developed and highly respected land use and transportation and air quality modeling tools with ability to input different values of time saved; models have been updated to address HOT lane issues Role of Air Quality, CMP, Planning Regulation and Guidance for RP Plan RP was not directly considered in regional transportation or long-range plan or air quality plan, though there are vague references to it under discussion of future tools needed for addressing endemic and worsening congestion, perennial funding shortfalls, and increasing facility needs; role of planning processes has been peripheral and marginal overall All 3 RP projects were later adopted in MTP via plan updates (MD/ICC in 2004, VA/I-495 in 2005 and VA/I-395, I-95 in 2007)
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From page 103... ...
public information meetings and public hearings; established project information website and means of responding to individual queries, held stakeholder meetings, the TPB held public hearings and workshops, consulted with TPB Transit Advisory Committee, conducted citizens meetings during EIR process, held marketing campaigns, disseminated information at retail kiosks, and engaged the press; used well-established state and TPB practices and procedures for outreach HOT lanes were framed as allowing choice to pay and avoid congestion, producing some congestion relief on mixed traffic lanes, and making more congestion free lanes available to transit; priced new ICC lanes were presented as providing a fast by-pass shortcut between two heavily congested freeways Evidence based on surveys of perceptions of users and actual travel patterns by different population segments from other RP projects like San Diego I-15 and Orange County SR-91 was cited often to dispel public concerns regarding "equity" Feasibility studies were also carefully carried out and modeling results were shown to support the case for projects Environmental community sees these projects as a surreptitious way of adding highway capacity Each state and jurisdiction has its well-established community outreach and consultation strategies: community meetings, websites, newspaper ads, public hearings, etc; for RP, the states also carried out focus groups and surveys Maryland DOT involves other state agencies like the MD Toll Authority and relevant MPOs in planning and outreach State provides guidance with established outreach procedures and technical support through high-quality modeling tools
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From page 104... ...
; additional concerns relate to likely requirement of HOV-2 being tolled Current economic downturn probably makes it more difficult to generate support for road pricing in the short term Need more planning funds and grants to nurture political support and pursue outreach with media and stakeholder groups In MD, they believe that a financial or operational calamity is needed to pursue RP vigorously and they are not there yet In recent years, as congestion has worsened and the promise of "largely self-financing" new highway capacity has surfaced, level of support for RP has increased as both a potential funding source and as Maximizing Attention to RP in Planning -- Barriers and Opportunities Opportunities: Believes federal planning regulations could ask for consideration of RP alternatives in all plan developments with adequate funding made available to analyze the impacts of and issues surrounding RP alternatives The context is ripe for consideration of RP because congestion continues to spread and intensify Location and Project Minneapolis, I-394 MnPASS Lanes and New I-35W Project RP Emergence Factors HOT lanes first proposed as demonstration project on I-394 in 1997, but there was no political support so proposal was withdrawn by governor; idea that "it could be implemented and people would support it afterwards" led to failure of earlier proposals In early 2000s, despite lack of political support, MnDOT was in favor of implementing RP and contracted with Univ. of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute to get it implemented Value Pricing Advisory Task Force comprising political figures (state legislators, city officials)
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From page 105... ...
, funding, and encouragement of a learning process have been important Public, Stakeholder Involvement in RP Plans MnDOT and project team set up a Community Task Force that operated over 2004–2005 until opening of MnPASS Lanes in 2005. Task force involved key leaders -- representatives from 6 city councils, citizen representatives, AAA, trucking association, transit-oriented groups, and state legislators, met monthly and visited California's SR-91 and I-15 projects to guide project design Diverse project team -- partnership was established between the local team, MnDOT, and Humphrey Institute that presented a neutral face to get community support for implementation State passed legislation in 2003 that allowed charging tolls on I-394; interest from state legislators brought governor on board and allowed RP Relation to Planning Processes Pricing ideas were first introduced in 1993 long-range plan and there has been a policy position supporting RP in the regional plan since then; while primary driver was improving mobility, pricing is consistent with other goals of supporting transit and improving air quality RP first emerged from outside the planning process in the twin cities region; VPPP provided opportunity for I-394 MnPASS lanes which emerged from a corridor study; this then led to preparation of MnPASS System Plan that included the new I-35W project In Phase 2 of I-394 MnPASS lanes, MnDOT is considering improvements and has been trying to integrate pricing into the region's Comprehensive Land Use Plan; but the realization is that this is a disruptive process; planners do not know how to deal with the institutional/political issues and are not familiar with how RP will work in a community Planning processes are not "in-sync" and trying to integrate the different processes for transit, land use, highways gets complicated Ongoing relationship between local MPO and state DOT with regard to other projects is important for planning purposes Role of Air Quality, CMP, Planning Regulation and Guidance for RP Plan Having a fiscally constrained plan forced a closer look at regional resources and at the aging transportation system, enabling pricing to come up in discussions New 2009 Revised Transportation Policy Plan projects needs and capabilities of highway system 50 years on; resulted from policymaker workshops and debates on future of transportation; has pricing and managed lanes as important component Plan recommends 4–5 priced corridors, similar to the UPA project of managed lanes combined with transit improvements, BRT investments; since Metro runs the region's bus system, it was more sensitive to having HOV/transit lanes with RP as a policy Metropolitan Council (MPO)
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From page 106... ...
of Minnesota and MnDOT sponsored public roundtables on "Rethinking Transportation Finance," organized legislative seminars on RP, held stakeholder workshops twice a year with presentations from MnDOT; tried to leave no question unanswered Effect of HOT lanes on transit was a key public concern -- allayed by communicating research and findings after project was built; evaluation surveys for I-394 found that lanes were benefitting transit and there was not much effect in HOVs/carpools. For new I-35W project, focused on individual components of project for different interest groups, rather than on whole package No "organized" opposition, but trucking association has been an opponent and has sought state legislation prohibiting tolling projects except for HOV conversions and shoulder projects Very little public involvement in the regional plan because it is difficult to include them in a 20-year plan Maximizing Attention to RP in Planning -- Barriers and Opportunities Opportunities: Believes that without federal financial incentive offered through VPPP, RP would not have reached this level of implementation anywhere in the country Federal position on long-range plans is important and next role of feds should be to give incentives to projects that include RP Believes even with pricing project, more impact will be seen when people change behavior and shift to transit; therefore transit projects must include incentives for congestion pricing as a next step and institutions should work together Success of I-394 has been a major driver in moving the I-35W project forward at a fast pace; also because it is an add-on lane that does not take away free lanes More encouragement of pricing should be built into federal planning guidance Table 6.
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From page 107... ...
and tolls on city-owned East River and Harlem River bridges; legislature adopted payroll tax but not the tolls RP Relation to Planning Processes In 2007, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a sustainability plan for NYC for 2030 that took land use, transportation, and climate change into account; this plan PlaNYC included the congestion pricing policy (London-style areawide charge, south of 86th street) PlaNYC is more than a transportation plan; it is a policy framework for infrastructure initiatives with a set of interlocking policies aimed at sustainability; pricing was included, recognizing other levels of government would need to approve No direct link between MPO's regional transportation plan and city's PlaNYC; the two entities coordinate on large transportation investments but MPO does not guide what the city implements MPO's RTP has general language supporting pricing in principle; 2006 plan called for closer look at using pricing for transportation improvements, including solving congestion and expanding transit Overall, congestion pricing emerged from outside the MPO's long-range planning process Role of Air Quality, CMP, Planning Regulation and Guidance for RP Plan Transportation and environmental goals were the major drivers for the project; plan addressed congestion and population and economic growth Since UPA funds were involved, the city had to satisfy NEPA requirements; project got stalled at state assembly when preparatory/scoping work for EIS had already begun EIS requirements and NEPA process can be burdensome Formal air quality conformity process had no role in RP, though GHG emissions reduction was a broad goal of the plan Congestion Management Process played no role in this pricing project; CMP is updated every 2 years and represents regional consensus on problems that MPO and DOT need to address, but congestion locations and facility needs are not very accurate at local city level because MPO's regional model was designed for highway travel Addressing climate change is a goal in PlaNYC; RP was one part of larger set of plans addressing climate issues Role of State DOT vs.
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From page 108... ...
Barriers: City needs legal authority from state to implement congestion pricing or tolls on previously untolled roads Tolling could be allowed on Interstate highways and waivers guaranteed to local governments to implement tolls on facilities that received federal funding; local governments are less likely to propose a project that may face a future roadblock Political upheavals -- resignation of supportive governor at critical time, one month before bill came up for vote in state assembly Powerful opponents in state assembly -- issues were skepticism about MTA's use of funds, potential parking impacts outside the pricing zone, drivers not wanting to pay, privacy concerns due to installation of cameras, and impacts on occasional trips to hospitals and medical facilities; UPA deadline pushed the project forward; no such deadline now and focus has shifted to current fiscal situation Federal environmental review process made prospective environmental review more demanding but not a major obstacle; the additional rules can be a barrier Equity arguments hard to refute since "equity" means different things to different people -- often meant why do "I" have to pay but not someone else State DOT worked with MPO on planning and with city on impact analysis; involvement of high-level policy staff at state DOT was helpful; state assessed regional impacts beyond city's borders and found Table 7. (Continued)
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From page 109... ...
RP Emergence Factors NYCDOT Division of Planning and Sustainability has received funding for six pilot Park Smart programs through the Value Pricing Pilot Program RP Relation to Planning Processes Periodic studies on parking pricing, justification, and synchronization with goals of PlaNYC was done to keep parking pricing on the radar NYCDOT's Sustainable Streets Strategic Plan to improve curb management was an important impetus for Park Smart program No relationship of parking pricing with the regional plan Role of Air Quality, CMP, Planning Regulation and Guidance for RP Plan The NYCDOT Sustainable Streets plan includes curb management in one of its goals and Parking Pricing as a strategy No role of NEPA process or air quality assessments in the parking pricing program, but required for the congestion pricing plan Role of State DOT vs. MPOs in RP State DOT not directly involved Role of Federal Government in RP Federal funding through the VPPP for pilot program evaluation Public, Stakeholder Involvement in RP Plans Agency worked with delivery businesses to understand how their businesses work (which ones depend on peak vs.
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From page 110... ...
did not reference any state planning processes The ideas of mileage fees, congestion pricing, and tolling new capacity entered the planning process in 2002 and the legislature influenced ODOT's planning work through vision statements, etc. Role of Air Quality, CMP, Planning Regulation and Guidance for RP Plan Planning process less relevant in implementing pilot program, but for the next pilot project or an implementation of RP, it may become more relevant because state planners now want to be involved, given the new legislative direction for implementing RP Role of State DOT vs.
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From page 111... ...
Equity concerns came up with respect to urban vs. rural populations -- people typically do not perceive how much they pay for the gas tax and that can be a significant amount Learned that all project design details must be worked out and nothing should be unknown before public communication begins Maximizing Attention to RP in Planning -- Barriers and Opportunities Opportunities: Believes that a national mileage-fee system could be designed and implemented by volunteer states, with a policy oversight body to direct pilot projects Limited gas tax resources at state level are driving interest in Oregon's experiment from all around the country; structural problems with gas tax are similar in most states Believes the initial implementations should be small and partial, starting with electric vehicles and conditional voluntary adoptions where people can elect to be in a mileage-fee system.
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From page 112... ...
authorized 7 potential tolling corridors; the legislation set up commission with authority to set rates and charge tolls for revenue and traffic management purposes, which would be implemented by state DOT Urban Partnerships Agreement (UPA) and legislation authorizing tolling; severe gap in funding for new SR-520 bridge led to decision to implement tolls on existing bridge while new bridge is built SR-520 tolls partly driven by slow revenues in economy and uncertain trust fund; state gas tax has been raised multiple times, so tolling appears to be the only way to raise funds RP Relation to Planning Processes PSRC has its own pricing task force that came into existence in late 1990s when previous transportation plan was being developed; task force was reinvigorated for the current round of planning and it introduced pricing options into the latest plan Region has a Vision 2040 plan that focuses on mobility and demand management to reduce need for capital improvements 2001 regional transportation plan included some discussion on tolling and direction to explore potential but was not pursued further; currently with Tacoma Narrows project running successfully, decline in gas tax revenues, deterioration of infrastructure, and sustainability of transportation being a key issue in 2040 plan, there is more support for tolling Important criteria/"attention-getters" in regional plan that support tolling: (1)
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From page 113... ...
and SR-520 (planned) Public, Stakeholder Involvement in RP Plans SR-520 Tolling Implementation Committee has presented information to more than 40 elected officials, jurisdictions, and stakeholder groups during 2008, including meetings with community and civic groups, local city councils and elected representatives; heavy media coverage; public opinion generally in favor of tolling to fund new SR-520 bridge Meetings targeted at low-income, minority, and "special needs" groups to address environmental justice issues Issue of "paying twice" has come up, raising questions about replacing sales tax with user fees "Scoping Process" on regional plan involved asking public and interest groups for reactions to alternatives; over 1,000 comments were received SR-520 outreach also involved and pitched a model peer review group to bolster the credibility of the planning process model Issue of revenues has arisen -- i.e., spending revenues where they are raised (corridor)
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