Friday, January 14
Variable Toll Poll: But Then Who Really Wants $5 Tolls?
Bay Area residents don't want variable tolls on the bridges. This is according to a Bay Area Council survey--or the San Francisco Examiner's reporting of that survey. I looked all over the Bay Area Council's website, and I can't find any mention of the poll. No survey results, no press release. The only place I find mention of this toll poll is in the Examiner, which says this:
While transportation planners have suggested raising bridge tolls for rush hour commuters only -- perhaps to as high as $5 -- Bay Area drivers give the idea of variable tolls a big thumbs-down.
If there has to be yet another toll hike, 58 percent of Bay Area residents prefer a $4 toll that stays the same at all times of the day, according to a recent survey by the Bay Area Council. Just 32 percent said they would like to see a $5 toll heaped on drivers during the busiest commute times and $3 for the rest of the day.
So, Bay Area drivers don't want variable tolls per se or they don't want $5 tolls? Assuming, as the Examiner implies, the survey only gave two scenarios, all-day $4 toll and $3/$5 variable toll, the results are inconclusive. Is the public willing to pay $4 during peak hours, instead of $5? Would the public accept variable tolls if the off-peak price were seen as a discount--e.g., $2 off-peak instead of the current all-day $3?
The survey as represented in the Examiner should not be read as the public's rejection of variable tolling, and more questions need to be asked.
Update: The Contra Costa Times also reported on the survey and was slightly less matter-of-fact about the results as a vote against variable tolling. However, the article gives no further detail on whether the survey's questions were actually deeper than they appeared in the Examiner.
Friday's SV/SJ Business Journal also mentioned the variable toll question on Friday but didn't dismiss the method.
And I missed an SF Chronicle article on the topic. But, enough already with these links to articles, you get the point.
Further update: This is a letter to the Examiner I wrote the same day I wrote the above blog entry (which restates the same idea):
THE JAN. 14 reporting of the Bay Area Council's poll on variable bridge tolls appears incomplete ["Flexible tolls for bridges not welcomed," Jan. 14]. The article implies that survey respondents' rejection of a $5 toll only in peak hours equates with disapproval of variable tolls in general.
The details of the article do not support this conclusion. After all, few drivers at this time, less than a year after Regional Measure 2's $1 toll hike, would say yes to a $2 increase over the current $3.
Did the survey give pricing scenarios other than the two stated in the article? Unfortunately, the article did not say and the council has not published survey results on its Web site. The reported results are inconclusive and should not be accepted as a rejection of variable tolling, a worthwhile method to discourage the use of single-occupancy vehicles for rush hour commuting.
(See also: "congestion pricing")
