‘Market Pricing’ for Car Traffic?

Already there is a pricing structure that makes phone calls more expensive when circuits are most busy; now a campaign has resurfaced to apply the same sort of pricing structure to transportation. There are persuasive arguments for “market pricing” the way Southern Californians use their cars.

In their new study, advocates argue that the cost of peak-hour highway use, parking space and cleaning up pollution from automobiles is well above what car owners pay, and that market pricing is not just the best, but perhaps the only way, to cope with both smog and traffic jams.

One of the most telling arguments lies in what the new report considers a hopeful sign--how much time could be cut from the morning commute: 24% under what forecasters say it would be in about 20 years. That would raise the expected average speed from 19 miles per hour to a not-exactly-roaring 25 m.p.h. That tells worlds about what bad shape Southern California transportation is already in.

The study proposes relatively modest changes in the costs to motorists of using highways when they are most crowded, driving high-polluting cars and parking. It also suggests making it easier for shuttles that already move passengers in and out of airports to move people to markets or on other errands.

The study was financed by the Environmental Defense Fund and the Regional Institute of Southern California, both advocates of linking regional problems rather than having one agency concentrate on air, another on highways, a third on water.

They start with basics. Why is California in gridlock? Try the fact that the state’s population increased by 42% in the 20 years that ended in 1986 and that public spending on transportation went down during those years by nearly as much--35%.

They also note that the state could not build itself out of gridlock, even if there were enough open space to accommodate every car that wanted to roll on a road. Even if it were possible, the cost would be $110 billion, entirely out of the question in a state that is too broke to keep its public schools whole.

The argument for alternatives deserves a hearing.