Commuting Survey Could Have Global Implications

Kenneth Small is a man with a question.

Are commuters bothered enough by having to pay for traveling during peak hours that they will alter their driving habits in a way that would reduce or eliminate rush-hour congestion?

It is a question one German car company considers important enough to have recently given Small a $150,000 grant to help answer. And the answer he comes up with could have a profound effect on how future motorists get around, not only in Southern California but throughout the world.

“It may be the wave of a very distant future,” said Small, an economics professor at UCI. “We will probably see a lot of demonstration projects.”

What he’s talking about is something called “congestion pricing”--a system by which the price of using a toll road is fixed according to the time of day that it’s used. Charging commuters higher rates during peak hours, the theory goes, will persuade enough of them to either carpool or drive at different times to reduce the amount of congestion.

There are two places in the world where this system is seriously being tried. One is in Singapore. The other is on the 91 Express Lanes, that 10-mile stretch of toll road along the Riverside Freeway from the Riverside County line to the northern tip of the Costa Mesa Freeway in Anaheim.

Tolls on that stretch now range from free for carpoolers carrying two or more passengers, to $2.75 per trip during peak traffic periods such as early-morning rush hour and after work.

The question is whether commuters are willing to change their driving habits to save up to $2.75.

Small intends to find out with a survey. Beginning next month, he says, he will send 1,000 to 2,000 questionnaires out to people living or working near the toll road asking whether and how they have changed their habits as a result of congestion pricing.

Sometime this summer, he says, he hopes to have results--some of which could have enormous implications for the future.

“We are trying to keep up with what’s going on,” said Holger Spielberg, manager of mobility services and systems for Daimler Benz, the German car company that makes Mercedes-Benz and is paying for the survey. “We’d like to totally understand whether it works, how it works and what is the public response.

“If this concept proves to be working, I would think it’s very likely that it would spread throughout the world, including Europe.”

The auto maker has no direct involvement or interest in the question, Spielberg said, but finds it worthwhile to stay on top of motoring trends.

Traffic officials closer to home are watching with interest as well.

“Congestion pricing as an idea has a lot of merit,” said Joe El Harake, a spokesman for Caltrans in Orange County. “Theoretically, at least, it makes sense. There is no single tool that could solve congestion; congestion pricing is one approach that could help in easing delay.”

And even some who have been critical of toll roads in the past say that they are open to the idea of controlling traffic through congestion pricing.

“It’s worth checking out,” said Bill Ward, chairman of a group called Drivers for Highway Safety, which at times has criticized the way toll roads are funded. “I’ve got an open mind to it. What you’re doing is measuring how much people are willing to pay for their time. It’s like any other market situation; time is worth what people are willing to pay for it.”

Indications so far are that some commuters, at least, do place some monetary value on their rush-hour time. In an effort to ease toll road crowding, for instance, Express Lane officials recently raised their prices by 25 cents during rush hour.

The result?

“It has worked,” said Dave Simpson, a spokesman for the California Private Transportation Co., which operates the toll road. “They haven’t had any slowing problems recently. They said they could raise their prices and ease congestion and that’s what they’ve done.”

Street Smart appears Mondays in the Times Orange County Edition. Readers are invited to submit comments and questions about traffic, commuting and what makes it difficult get around in Orange County. Include simple sketches if helpful. Letters may be published in upcoming columns. Please write to David Haldane, c/o Street Smart, The Times Orange County Edition, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, send faxes to (714) 966-7711 or e-mail him at David.Haldane@latimes.com Include your full name, address and day and evening phone numbers. Letters may be edited, and no anonymous letters will be accepted.