Los Angeles Times: End the gas tax and replace it with congestion pricing: a user fee for major highways that goes up at peak times and drops off as traffic diminishes. Half the trips during rush hour are not work-related; they could be shifted to other times. Congestion pricing provides the incentive that’s now missing for drivers to make that shift.
Congestion pricing requires very little infrastructure investment beyond electronic toll scanners and a billing system. Drivers hate tolls, but they’re no more regressive than the gas tax and have the benefit of actually fixing traffic. After London established congestion pricing, it saw a 30% reduction in congestion, a 14% reduction in trip times and a 9% drop in carbon emissions.
