The SCAG region has some of the most severe congestion and worst
air quality in the United States and we don’t have sufficient
resources to sustain and preserve our transportation system.
Around the world, there has been success in managing
transportation demand, reducing congestion and providing
additional choices to travelers through an approach known as
value pricing, which led us to conduct the Express Travel Choices
Study to evaluate these approaches to see if and how they might
work in our region.
The study considered many pricing options and evaluated them in
detail, including their mobility, economic and equity impacts,
and how they could be implemented. We found three promising ones:
- A network of express lanes, which connects and expands
express lanes already in place or in progress and can accommodate
ever-growing inter-county travel
- Cordons, in areas where there is dense, mixed-use development
and transit capacity
- A mileage-based user fee to establish a structurally sound
funding source for taking care of our aging infrastructure and
expanding travel options
Findings from this first phase were incorporated into
the 2012-2035 RTP/SCS, including a regional network of
express lanes and the long-term transition to a mileage-based
user fee system.
