520, Carbon, and Traffic: Solved!

At last Wednesday’s Wallingford Community Council meeting we solved all of America’s transportation problems. The solution is…

CONGESTION TOLLING ON SINGLE OCCUPANT VEHICLES!

If speeds on freeways drop below a target level, the toll rate on single occupant vehicles is gradually ramped up, and if speeds are above the target level then toll rates are quickly dropped. The tolls are administered electronically and flex to factor in traffic related to game days and weather. Benefits include…

• Maximum throughput: As many people as possible will move as fast as possible to where they’re going. Stop and go traffic moves far fewer vehicles per hour than a saturated freeway running at 50 miles per hour, and since the toll favors transit and carpooling, you end up moving the maximum number of people in those vehicles.
• Maximum speed: By legally binding tolls to eliminate traffic it means everyone gets where they need to go as quickly as possible, and buses can have predictable route timings.
• Retrofit friendly: Unlike a carpool lane or rail line, the mechanism works with 4 lane roads and existing infrastructure. The flexibility of the toll means that as the number of people using the road increases or decreases you will never have excess traffic or a needlessly empty roadway.
• Encourages carpooling: If every commuter that could double up in a car did double up then we would have no traffic and no need for expanding transit systems. Transit is expensive to build and operate and always misses some people, but most people that commute at peak times can find someone to double up with.
• Fairness: Unlike a regressive sales tax for transit, people can carpool and travel off peak without incurring the financial hit, affording maximum flexibility for those unable to pay tolls.
• Finances: Not only does tolling raise funds for road repairs and transportation alternatives, by clearing the roads for buses it increases their efficiency and delays the requirement to add additional capacity. Further, the funds raised can be used to subsidize transportation alternatives, such as bike lanes and bus operations.
• Environment: If traffic flow rates are maintained cars operate much more efficiently- stop and go traffic has the highest emission levels. Simply raising fuel efficiency standards and encouraging carpooling is the most direct pathway to reduced emissions.

Actually, that’s just what I personally would like to see happen. What’s more likely is that China will build us flying buses like this one planned for Beijing’s Mentougou district:

The truth from last meeting: 520 planners Dawn Yankauskas (Project Engineer) and Jeff Kinney (520 Transportation Planner) walked us through the 520 preferred alternative on the West side, which is unfunded. They predict a less than 5% impact on roads in Wallingford even though 520 will have 50% more capacity and a second Montlake bridge will double the amount of northbound cars that can be dumped onto Pacific Ave N. Also, the Montlake bus stop will be wiped out, but more buses will be added from the Pacific interchange. Finally, they promise the bike lane being built will connect to the West side even if no additional funding materializes, although I don’t understand how that’s possible.

Errata from last month’s notes: Historic Seattle and others have run the numbers and Meridian School can rent room 122 and still stay within the 30% space allocation cap.

Next month we solve land use. Mike Podowski is scheduled to talk about neighborhood land use issues and Citywide land use initiatives that may affect the neighborhood; please send any land use related questions to wccprez at wallingford dot org at least 1 week prior to the September meeting.

At the October meeting we plan to take up the neighborhood plan with Sustainable Wallingford.