Commentary

Federal Govt Finances Innovative Congestion Relief Programs

In case you missed it: The federal government’s Value Pricing Program has announced $6 million in grants to fund pilot projects to reduce congestion through value pricing on 14 May. The San Francisco Bay Area will get $3.2 million to implement roadway pricing on SR 237 Express Connectors and the Seattle Area will get $1.3 million for an Express Lanes Concept Study.

According to the press release from the Federal Highway Adminsitration (FHWA):

“In San Francisco’s Bay area, roadway pricing will be used on the SR 237 Express Connectors to relieve bottlenecks at a key gateway into Silicon Valley. Minnesota’s Twin Cities and Washington’s Puget Sound will use their funds to study the benefits of pricing on major highways. New York will advance a truck pricing system to cut traffic at the I-90/I-290 interchange east of Buffalo where commercial trucks account for one in four vehicles.”