That Infernal Car

Okay, so maybe last week I was hasty in my musings on spring. We’re not quite there yet. The surest sign is every time I use the car, which luckily at the moment, occurs only a few times a week. I’m still adjusting to the street parking routine, with cleaning schedules and other land mines that may lead to a ticket. And maybe I’m a little too concerned about the whole process. But this is by far the worst time of year when it comes to finding somewhere to shove the car for free. The winter ritual of digging oneself out of a parking spot, and then, upon returning, sliding one’s way back into a space heaping with the snow and ice left to thaw at its own pace is my most hated of chores. Go ahead and laugh, all you Sunbelt types out there, but I’m sure you have your gripes about driving – particularly traffic. Wish you had a developed public transportation system now, don’t you?

Once the car is out and on the road, and I have the opportunity to reach a speed above forty, I must say that it is a marvel to have a network of highways that crisscross New York, and, for the most part, help us get from place to place a little faster than we would fighting the pedestrians and traffic lights of local routes. (Yes, we must acknowledge Robert Moses’s contribution). Sure, we’ve paid for this right by wreaking havoc on neighborhoods and contributing to global warming, among other ills. But what if we had to pay a little more? Or even a lot more? Maybe it would discourage a few of us from getting behind the wheel, and instead hopping aboard a bus or a train. In London, this question faces immediate scrutiny as the metropolitan region prepares to expand its existing system of charging all cars the privilege to enter the central city each day. The region will be requiring a $15.60 toll to all motorists who drive to additional portions of the city, in an effort to reduce congestion. Figures indicate that in the four years the mechanism has been in place, traffic has been reduced by 10 percent. Despite the success, a national campaign resulted in 1.5 million signatures opposed to the plan. Old habits won’t drive quietly into that good night.

Similar systems are being tried in Stockholm, and also the United States. Houston, Minneapolis and Denver are attempting to encourage people to ride instead of drive by charging for the right to guzzle their share of gas. In Orange County, California, just south of Los Angeles, State Route 91 has instituted a plan to charge motorists the privilege to drive in its express lanes, at a graduated range of prices, depending on the time of day. During rush hour periods, a driver must pay $9.25 to traverse its H.O.T., or high occupancy toll lanes, while the middle of the day price is just over a dollar. For those not willing to shell out the toll, they must run the risk of traffic in the “free” lanes.

These “congestion pricing” systems offer a glimpse into the future, as another way to get people out of the driver’s seat. Unusually enough, the Bush administration is in support of these approaches, devoting $130 million to them in his proposed budget for 2008. Aside from the environmental and traffic volume benefits, congestion pricing also appeals to the economist in all of us, assigning an economic rationality approach to the choice of whether or not to drive. Advocated by 1996 Nobel laureate William Vickrey, a Columbia University economist, charging people to use a public highway would build in additional costs to counterbalance the deleterious effects of this decision.

With a recent report noting that a larger percentage of commuters to Manhattan come from the outer boroughs of New York City, as opposed to the suburbs, than previously thought, maybe it is time to start thinking about ways to encourage more people to use public transportation. Drawn by free parking and free access to Manhattan, it is hard to see why New Yorkers would not take advantage. But if it wasn’t free, and not so advantageous, maybe trends would change. And people would leave their cars on the street, even in the middle of the summer, and hop onto a bus or subway train, because the pain in the pocket book would be just as biting as spending a half hour to dig oneself out of a snow bank. Then again, maybe not, as evidenced by the London reaction. And what about the metropolitan regions without quality public transportation systems? It’s a hard sell, no doubt, but one that requires serious attention, and the incremental steps like the ones taking place, as we move towards a post-petroleum world and think about the way our built up environment must adapt to this inevitability.