ARE TOLLS THE ANSWER TO CITY’S CONGESTION PROBLEM?
As often happens Monday mornings, Calgarians’ ears and eyes were fixed on television reports, radio updates and mobile phone apps for information about traffic conditions needed to plan their commutes.
That Calgary’s road infrastructure can’t support current traffic demands — witness the daily delays on Crowchild and Glenmore Trails, whose effects spread to other traffic arteries — is nothing new. Growth pressures that came with a booming energy sector have stressed roadways that were never meant to handle the traffic loads of today.
There are many debates about how to handle this, including building more roads, reconfiguring interchanges and increasing public transit options. One option that has not been much discussed is something called “congestion pricing.”
It’s the focus of the latest in a series of research papers released by the EcoFiscal Commission, which arrives in advance of a transportation conference hosted by the Manning Centre next week in Calgary. ( The EcoFiscal Commission is a group of independent, policy- minded economists examining ways to solve the twin issues of economic growth and environmental responsibility.)
The issue of road congestion is not a trivial one, especially cast in the context of what it means in terms of lost economic productivity. This includes the time it takes individuals to get to and from work, but also the movement of goods through cities. The lost time and larger inventories some companies must hold due to unpredictable traffic patterns means the final cost to the consumer increases.
The economic cost of unaddressed congestion issues in the Toronto/ Hamilton area are forecast to reach $ 15 billion by 2031. Obviously, Calgary’s economic impact from its inadequate transportation system won’t be that high, but consider — even anecdotally — how many office conversations happen each week around how much earlier someone will leave to make an appointment on time or ferry their children to an after- school activity.
More cars trapped in traffic also means more time idling. Research has found as much as 80 per cent of carbon emissions come from the tailpipe. A study published in the Canadian Medical Association journal in 2013 showed there are also health implications from vehicle- associated air pollution, including asthma, cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure.
The EcoFiscal paper also suggests it contributes to a greater incidence of aggravation and stress, although that’s likely to do with the unpredictability of traffic patterns due to road congestion rather than air pollutants.
In the absence of billions of dollars in needed infrastructure spending, the EcoFiscal Commission is recommending cities faced with these issues implement congestion pricing, which, when structured appropriately, can decrease road congestion and result in many positive outcomes.
“The past and current solutions to solve congestion are not working,” said Chris Ragan, the EFC chairman and an associate professor of economics at McGill University.
“Too often it's looked at as an issue of insufficient capacity, but building more roads doesn't solve the problem of congestion. When you build a new road, there's less congestion for a while, but then people see it's available and the cars migrate to the route. What we need is a mind- shift in how we look at solving the problem,” Ragan said.
The commission looked at several cities around the world that have implemented this policy and concluded it can have a positive impact in Canadian cities facing congestion problems — Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal.
What's really interesting, though likely not surprising to Calgarians who rely on transit, is that Calgary " ... lags behind Toronto and Montreal in the number of transit trips per capita and the number of residents living within one kilometre of rapid transit,” according to the report.
It could be argued inadequate public transportation links are the reason 77 per cent of Calgarians commute to work by car or truck compared with 70 per cent in other major centres where there is a more robust public transportation network, according to the EcoFiscal Commission's findings.
The idea behind congestion pricing is simple. By putting a price on road access, which is tied to intensity of use, citizens will make different choices about how they want to commute. Change their drive time or pay a fee that allows access to high occupancy toll lanes. The fee charged changes frequently, depending on the level of congestion.
Based on studies completed last year, including one by the Manning Centre, the EcoFiscal report suggests high occupancy toll ( HOT) lanes are the best way to address congestion issues in Calgary.
The Manning Centre report identifies five major roadways suitable for HOT lanes — Crowchild, Glenmore, Deerfoot and Stoney Trails and 14th Street South.
Evidence gathered in other cities that have taken this route, including San Francisco, Portland, Minneapolis and Stockholm, has yielded positive benefits and Ragan said it is a more robust option than building more high occupancy vehicle lanes.
The HOT lanes in Minneapolis increased traffic flows by six per cent in the general purpose lanes and maintained free- flow speeds in the toll lanes. Congestion pricing dropped the number of vehicles coming into the city's core by 20 to 30 per cent in Stockholm and by 50 per cent in San Francisco.
“Anything an HOV lane can do, an HOT can do better,” said Ragan.
In addition to modifying transportation patterns, the high occupancy toll lanes can help identify real needs for infrastructure upgrades. If a HOT lane doesn't significantly improve traffic flows, it would prove capacity needs to be increased, the hypothesis suggests.
The irony in all of this is that Alberta's NDP government rejected former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge's suggestion — from his infrastructure report appended to the province's strategic plan — to implement toll roads as a way to fund the maintenance of existing infrastructure.
Of course, the EcoFiscal report notes Albertans have enjoyed paying the country's lowest provincial taxes ( by allowing energy revenues to subsidize the low tax rates, in this columnist's view) and as a result the notion of congestion pricing might not be acceptable to Calgarians.
Provincial governments need to cede authority to municipal governments and allow them to implement these initiatives. In Alberta, this would require a legislative change to permit road tolls, which might explain why the provincial budget didn't include such a measure last week. If a legislative fix is possible, it behooves the province to consider it.
Calgary is a young, dynamic and growing city. While it might be in ' pause' mode, given the current commodity price situation, the slowdown won't last indefinitely.
The way to ensure Calgary captures the economic opportunity when oil prices improve and activity increases, is to make investments in both infrastructure and processes that increase overall productivity.
At a minimum, there should be at least one pilot project for high occupancy toll lanes to see if it can work. There's no one- sizefitsall approach, but we have to start somewhere.