A per-mile highway toll? It's being studied for the Bay Area. [View all]

Bay Area transportation planners predict that by 2050, the region’s highways will be overwhelmed by miserable traffic congestion, with the skies clouded by the attendant pollution.

To avoid that grim future, planners are in the middle of a two-year study examining what, they say, could be a potential solution: charging people a per-mile fee to drive on Bay Area highways and, possibly, surrounding arterial roads, starting in 2035.

The study led by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the region’s transportation planning body, has not determined specifics, such as price points and which highways or surrounding arterials motorists would pay to drive on. Still in its early stages, an actual recommendation won’t come to light until winter 2024.

SNIP

(Two) strategies involve “all-lane” tolling on highways with “existing or planned regional rail or frequent express bus service.” The proposals highlight most major Bay Area highways, such as Interstates 880, 680, 580, 280 and 80, and Highway 101 as potential tolling candidates. Enacting tolls on most or all of those highways would make it highly unlikely motorists would avoid paying a fee to get around the region by car.

LINK (paywall): https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/bay-area-traffic-highway-tolls-17827746.php

Other strategies (according to the link):

• All-lane highway tolling to include “major parallel arterials to limit diversion” (such as San Pablo Avenue in the East Bay, which runs next to Interstates 580 and 80).

• Cordon pricing that charges drivers to enter the downtowns of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose.

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The story mentions that any scenario is going to face strong protest if there aren't adequate public transit alternatives. While I support public transit (and depended on it for decades), it doesn't work for everyone and doesn't go everywhere. To suggest otherwise is folly.