Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 14

EARLY EFFORTS

Schwartz, CEO of Sam Schwartz Engineering, has been a vocal proponent of
congestion pricing for decades, but the
issue did not resonate until 2008 when
former Mayor Michael Bloomberg put it
on the table.
The proposal did not get very far,
according to Alex Matthiessen, a senior
adviser to the FixOurTransit coalition.
"It is hard to raise new revenue politically
absent a crisis," he says.
Congestion in the city was bad, the subway system was deteriorating and air pollution from all the vehicles stuck in traffic
was graying the sky, but nothing was so
bad that people were willing to pay more
to fix it.

Only 118,000
commuters, or 4
percent of working
residents from the
boroughs outside of
Manhattan, would
have to pay the
congestion fee, and
only 5,000 of those
would be low-income

Matthiessen, Schwartz and other transit experts realized, however, that trends
in the city were moving toward a crisis.
Schwartz developed a model congestion
pricing plan for the city, and Matthiessen
launched the Move NY coalition, a group
that included environmental and transit
groups, community organizations and
business and labor groups advocating for
congesting pricing as the best solution to
create a functioning, reliable and affordable transportation system in the city.
ACEC New York was one of the first
business organizations to join Move NY.
"ACEC New York came on in support of
congestion pricing very early," says Matthiessen. "That was big for us because
they have strong relationships in Albany,

Current Systems and Future Possibilities for Congestion Pricing

ew York City will be the first U.S. city to implement
congestion pricing, but systems have long been in
place in several foreign cities, including Singapore,
London and Stockholm.
In those three cities, the congestion pricing programs
faced initial skepticism and anger from commuters and
businesses prior to implementation, but those reactions
quickly changed, and all three have been relatively successful at reducing traffic congestion and improving air quality.
Singapore introduced congestion pricing in the mid1970s, but its current program dates to 1998. All vehicles
are fitted with an electronic device that automatically
records their fees when they pass under one of more than
80 gantries surrounding the central business district.
While Singapore traffic volume has continued to grow,
the transit use has grown almost three times faster.
According to The New York Times, congestion increased by
22 percent from 2004 to 2014. During that same period,
transit trips increased more than 63 percent.
London started its system in 2003, cordoning off an
8-square-mile zone in the center of the city. A system of
cameras around the zone records the license plates of
vehicles entering the zone, and the city sends owners a
monthly bill.
London enjoyed substantial traffic reductions in the early
years, but congestion has become progressively worse for
two reasons. First, the system went into effect prior to the
ride-sharing boom. For-hire vehicles have been lumped into
the same category as cabs, which are exempt from the con-

ENGINEERING INC.

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2019

gestion charge. As a result, the use of Uber, Lyft and other
ride-sharing services has exploded inside the congestion
zone. Second, trucks delivering online purchases block the
city's many narrow roads.
"Nonetheless, overall traffic volumes remain lower
than in 2003, and the city has taken advantage by adding
pedestrian plazas as well as bus and bike lanes," says Sam
Schwartz, CEO of Sam Schwartz Engineering.
Stockholm's congestion pricing started in 2007, using
gantries and cameras to record vehicles entering the downtown area. Traffic in the zone dropped by about 22 percent
in the first year and has remained around that level.
Several U.S. cities are reportedly considering congestion
pricing.
"Los Angeles put out an RFP in April for a feasibility
study to look into congestion pricing," says Ali Chaudhry,
senior vice president and chief development officer at
AECOM. In May, the Washington, D.C. City Council proposed a
$495,000 study to analyze the costs and benefits of congestion pricing. "Seattle and Chicago could also be good jurisdictions," Chaudhry adds.
However, New York City's experience will play a huge role
in the future of congestion pricing in this country, he says.
"How New York implements and administers this new
system will serve either as an example to cities or as a cautionary tale," Chaudhry wrote in an op-ed article in The New
York Times. "New York cannot afford to get this wrong. If we
can make congestion pricing work here, we can make it work
anywhere."

Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019

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