Last month, Atlanta earned the coveted fifth place on the list of U.S. cities with the worst traffic. To anyone who lives and drives in Atlanta, this should not be much of a surprise. Atlanta’s average daily commute runs an unbearable 31.3 minutes long (the third highest in the country). Last year, Atlanta took the eighth spot on the list, which means our traffic has only gotten worse. As we ponder future investments for the city’s infrastructure and transit, one solution we should consider is congestion pricing.
Congestion pricing revolves around the idea that charging people to drive on heavy traffic streets should decrease traffic and encourage people to use alternate transit methods, from public transportation to carpooling. Many large metropolitan cities have implemented congestion pricing for years: Singapore since 1975, London since 2003 and Milan since 2012. In January, New York City implemented its first congestion pricing program in Manhattan. The law has seen numerous positive effects: there are fewer cars in the street, public transit ridership is up, car crash injuries are down and traffic moves much faster. It’s too early to know concretely whether pollution has decreased or not, but early signs show it has. Since other cities have implemented this program successfully, Atlanta should be able to as well.
The latest long-range estimates show that Atlanta’s population will grow by almost 2 million people by 2050. It’s imperative that our transportation infrastructure keep up with this growth. Every four out of five dollars invested into our transportation network goes to just maintaining and operating our roads and transit systems. To expand our interstate and MARTA systems, the Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATLDOT) will need far more money than what it has. Amidst budget cuts and rollbacks, it is possible that new funding may never come. Thus, we must look towards other revenue sources to make that funding back.
Congestion pricing is not a one-size-fits-all solution: major cities that have the law relegate it to a couple traffic heavy streets. That model is a little more difficult to implement in Atlanta where traffic is extremely widespread. However, enacting the law on a couple key streets might have a considerable impact. One street that might be a good target is Spring Street. Located right off Tech’s campus, Spring Street is one of the busiest commuter roads in the city. Though the recently redesigned street is now more pedestrian friendly, it now has fewer car lanes. Combined with nearby construction and development, traffic has gotten worse. Adding congestion pricing might encourage commuters to be more intentional about their daily commutes. Many Midtown commuters come from outside the transit county, meaning that they aren’t paying taxes that go to Atlanta public transportation. Congestion pricing can ensure that everyone is paying their equal share to use our roads and interstate.
Implementing congestion pricing will not magically solve all our traffic problems, but it is a good start. A common misconception is that Atlanta is a dense city, but compared to other cities of its size, Atlanta is sprawling. But most residents of metro-Atlanta are highly dependent on their cars. The only way to break this dependency is to create sustainable solutions for people commuting in and out of the city — congestion pricing is a step in that direction.