Late last year, Connecticut’s Transportation Strategy Board (TSB) commissioned a study to analyze the impacts and benefits of tolling Connecticut’s roads and highways in some capacity. (See MTR here and here for background.) This past Thursday, the TSB received an update from the study team, Cambridge Systematics, concerning the status of the project and potential areas of study.
Framed as an introductory course on modern tolling, the update provided TSB with the history of tolling, how tolling works today, and an overview of some of the tolling and pricing concepts Cambridge is studying. The team began by ruling out the construction of toll plazas and indicated that only electronic tolling would be studied. Additionally, Cambridge ruled out cordon tolling, or the tolling of central business districts which exists in London and other cities around the world, and was proposed for New York City.
Both of these decisions are understandable. Tolls were initially removed from Connecticut’s roads after a catastrophic accident at the Stratford toll plaza in 1983 that killed 7 people. Connecticut also lacks the extremely dense and congested urban areas which cordon tolling is best suited for.
The study will look at converting HOV lanes on I-91 and I-84 to high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, tolling all existing highways, tolling only limited access highways, and tolling roads near the state border. The team will also research the impacts of building new toll lanes on existing infrastructure and converting existing shoulders to HOT lanes, measures which could actually prove counterproductive by encouraging more driving.
The Tri-State Transportation Campaign will be providing feedback to the study team as a member of a Stakeholders Committee which will meet for the first time this week. It is anticipated that the report will be finished by early February 2009, in time for the 2009 legislative session. The study will provide no recommendations, leaving this aspect of the process up to TSB, which will in turn provide recommendations to Governor Rell and the General Assembly.
[...] Board, tasked with directing transportation policy in the state, is set to receive the final report on congestion pricing from Cambridge Systematics on February 19. Her budget address would have been an opportune time [...]