Find way to reduce traffic

Gov. Charlie Baker wisely used his line-item veto last week to pick off the congestion pricing measure from the budget. Had it passed it would have discounted tolling during off-peak hours to reduce traffic on the roadways.

“That plan makes very specific recommendations about both pricing and timing. Based on what? No data,” Baker said. “We are putting the cart before the horse if we move ahead with a plan before we’ve actually studied what might work.”

Baker instead called for a report on how the state could ease gridlock.

The proposal, a Senate measure baked into the state budget, would have offered a discount of at least 25 percent on tolls for drivers traveling during offpeak hours. Drivers panned the proposal as unfair, and some aired suspicions it would open the door to surge pricing during rush hour.

Recently on WAAF radio, Gov. Baker suggested that commuters’ options are limited. “A lot of people come in based on when their boss requires them to come in. They also come in based on things like dropping their kids off at school and putting their kids at day care and a whole bunch of other things,” he said. “And I think for a lot of folks who don’t have the flexibility to manage their schedule, because, you know, they are working on a time clock, and stuff like that, they are going to view this as incredibly punitive.”

Gov. Baker is right on this issue. Reducing congestion is a laudable goal and would be beneficial to Bay Staters in many ways. This particular plan, though, is based on the dubious premise that there are many commuters who are choosing to embark on their daily trek at a particular time rather than hitting the highways every morning by necessity.

Everybody likes a bargain, but it is also fair to ask whether all the toll revenue is needed by the state if it is willing to see so much of it go away as a result of drivers hitting the roads during discounted hours.

Let’s get the report that Gov. Baker is asking for and then determine what, if any, adjustments the state can make to sensibly improve conditions for drivers.