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Thursday, August 07, 2008
London Admits Congestion Charge Failure

Motorists in London, England last year paid £268 million (US $536 million) in charges and penalties imposed in the name of congestion reduction. According to the sixth annual Transport for London Impacts Monitoring report released yesterday, these massive payments have left drivers no better off than they were before the charge was implemented. "The absolute level of congestion during 2007 was effectively identical to the representative value for conditions before the scheme was introduced in 2002," the report stated. "In other words, journey times inside the zone during 2007 were comparable to those prior to charging." Figures show that in the first four months of this year, and in all of 2007, the primary congestion measurement -- the mean excess travel rate -- was 2.3 minutes per kilometer. This figure is identical to the rate measured in 2002, before charging began. "I have always thought that the Congestion Charge is a blunt instrument," London Mayor Boris Johnson said in a statement. "I am therefore introducing a more comprehensive approach to easing congestion in London, one that gives greater consideration to how all transport measures impact on the movement of traffic on our roads." Johnson noted that the report showed an increase in congestion despite an overall 16 percent reduction in the number of vehicles entering the city. The reduction in volume was offset by reductions in capacity caused by intentional and unintentional effects of policy decisions. Unintended side effects included construction projects that caused significant delays and backups. Intentional policies included "pedestrian, cyclist and bus priority measures" that Johnson's predecessor, Ken Livingstone, introduced as a means of discouraging motorists. Livingstone's goal was to make it more difficult and expensive to drive in London. In addition to taking lane space away from drivers to create bus only lanes, for example, Livingstone planned to impose a £25 (US $50) CO2 tax on high-performance cars vehicles and family vehicles while exempting certain hybrids. "I have scrapped the CO2 Charge that risked thousands of small cars flooding central London, and have asked Transport for London to bring forward a range of measures to turnaround the trend and halt the squeezing of road space that has continued to worsen congestion," Johnson said. The cost to operate the complicated motorist tracking and charging system was £131 million (US $262 million) last year. Drivers paid £195 million (US $390 million) in congestion charges, leaving a profit of just £64 million (US $128 million). On top of this amount, however, motorists paid £73 million (US $146 million) in penalty tickets leaving the system with a net profit of £137 million (US $274 million) on total revenues of £268 million (US $536 million). Nearly all of this profit was spent on buses, speed cameras and environmental projects. Only £13 million (US $26 million) was spent strengthening bridges or resurfacing roads. A full copy of the report is available in a 1.6mb PDF file at the source link below.
Source:

Central London Congestion Charging Impacts Monitoring Sixth Annual Report (Transport for London, 8/6/2008)

Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Pennsylvania Toll Lobbying Battle Fails to Sway Public

Public opinion is against the two tolling options presented by state officials as solutions to Pennsylvania's transportation needs, according to a poll released yesterday by Quinnipiac University. Interest groups have bombarded the public with slick advertising campaigns involving mass mailings and online videos in an attempt to sway opinion in favor of either leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike to a foreign company or adding tolls to the Interstate 80 freeway (more info). The survey of 1,580 Pennsylvania voters suggested that the ads have not been effective. "Voters continue to give Governor [Ed] Rendell a positive approval rating even though they don't like his handling of the budget and overwhelmingly reject his proposals, including billions for the Turnpike and tolls on Interstate 80 -- the centerpieces of his program to raise revenue for the state's transportation system," said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. The tolling options are also being heavily promoted by parties with an interest in the billions of dollars at stake in the two alternatives. On one side, Abertis Infraestructuras, a Spanish company, joined with Citigroup to offer Pennsylvania officials $12.8 billion in return for the right to tax turnpike motorists until the year 2085. The poll found 60 percent of voters opposed the concept with only 29 percent in support. Opposition was highest among Republicans and male voters. On the other side, the Pennsylvania Turnpike seeks to defend existing jobs tolling turnpike motorists and to raise additional billions by installing tollbooths on I-80, a vital commercial route that motorists have been using freely. Voters opposed I-80 tolling with a slightly greater 63 percent majority with 29 percent support. Opposition in the northwest region of the state ran 77 percent. The poll had a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points. It showed essentially no change in opinion on tolling from surveys conducted last month and in November 2007.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Innocent Florida, Louisiana Motorists Receive Bogus Photo Tickets

Recent incidents in Georgia and Louisiana call into question the common assertion of photo enforcement advocates that the camera never lies. Officials in charge of red light camera and speed camera programs claim it is "rare" for erroneous tickets to be issued because a human police officers diligently verifies each and every citation for accuracy before it is issued. It appears that Lafayette, Louisiana made no such check when, as KSLA television reported, it mailed a black man's red light camera ticket to a white man. The city accused Alan Dukes, the owner of a 2005 Honda motorcycle, of speeding on June 4. Yet the photograph of the alleged violation clearly shows a black man riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Dukes maintains that he is innocent. "You can see there's no close resemblance, whatsoever," Alicia Dukes told KSLA in comparing a photo of her husband to the ticket photo. Lafayette's director of photo ticketing, Tony Tramel, insisted it would cost too much money to have police officers witness violations and ticket drivers in person. "Do we make errors or mistakes? Occasionally it does happen," Tramel admitted. "Can we be absolutely perfect? I wish we could." Lafayette's error is the inverse of a 2006 situation in Scottsdale, Arizona where a black man was sent a white man's speeding ticket. In Atlanta, Georgia it was the owner of a white car that was sent a ticket for an offense committed by a black car. WPLG television reported on this case where great grandmother and Hollywood, Florida resident Evelyn Singer received a ticket for running a red light in Atlanta at 6:30am on June 24 at the intersection of Courtland and Baker streets. The document insisted that Singer pay $70. Singer responded with a certified letter explaining that her white Acura looked nothing like the black Pontiac committing the offense alleged in the ticket photograph. Moreover, she has not been to Atlanta in thirty-five years. When Singer later called to confirm whether the ticket had been canceled or not, the courthouse either put her on hold or hung up while the Miami television station's cameras were rolling. After several frustrating attempts, Singer reached a a human and asked how often the cameras make mistakes. "It doesn't really matter as far as what we're trying to accomplish," the unidentified Georgia courthouse official responded. The court told WPLG that it was likely Singer's ticket would be canceled.
Source: Traffic cameras: Are they cause for controversy or celebration? (KSLA-TV (LA), 7/18/2008)

Monday, August 04, 2008
Federal Taxpayers Bankrolling San Francisco Congestion Tax Push

Each time drivers across the country fill up at a gas station, a small portion of the final sale price is going to fund the planning and implementation of a new tax on motorists in San Francisco, California. Later today the San Francisco County Transportation Authority will hold the latest in a series of "community discussions" to market a federally funded congestion pricing proposal that would electronically track and charge motorists each time they enter the city's downtown area. "The potential for additional federal funds for implementation make it an opportune time to investigate the policy's applicability to San Francisco," the authority explains on its website. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (D) drew inspiration for his value pricing plan from London's outspoken socialist mayor, Ken Livingston, who first introduced the charge in 2003. Although London voters rejected Livingston at the ballot box earlier this year in favor of a candidate who pledged to scale back congestion charging, the Bay Area's plans are proceeding at full speed. By December the $1 million "San Francisco Mobility, Access and Pricing Study" bankrolled by the Federal Highway Administration will be complete. Taxpayers nationwide are also footing the bill for $159 million in grants currently being used to establish a variable toll system that charges drivers $2 to use Doyle Drive, the southern access to the Golden Gate Bridge. With 532,000 automobile trips to the the downtown area each day, the city forecasts "substantial net revenues" for its plan to impose tolls on all entry points to the downtown area. These revenues will be used to further subsidize mass transit in accord with the city's existing "Transit First" policy which holds discouraging driving as a primary goal. Thus, authority documents explained that the purpose of charging is not to solve the congestion problem for drivers. "Congestion should be managed, not eliminated," a 2007 Transit Authority report on the proposal stated. The plan does promise minor congestion reduction and environmental benefits, but these results are drawn primarily from official Transport for London assessments of its own charging program. More recent, independent research calls into question these conclusions by suggesting that the London program has failed to reduce pollution and has increased congestion. Ongoing development of the plan is being orchestrated by a "Stakeholder Task Force" of activist groups including the Sierra Club, Livable City, SF Bicycle Coalition, Senior Action Network, and Walk SF. No representatives of the motorists most affected by the plan have a significant role in the process. View a 2007 presentation on the congestion tax plan in a 2.3mb PDF file at the source link below.
Source:

San Francisco Mobility, Access and Pricing Study Presentation (San Francisco County Transportation Authority, 10/30/2007)

Sunday, August 03, 2008
Arizona Cities Develop New Speed Camera Tricks

Local jurisdictions in Arizona are finding new ways to squeeze extra revenue out of motorists. Now that the Arizona Department of Public Safety has assumed the duty of operating speed cameras on freeways -- with the profit going to the state's general fund -- cities have turned to creative methods to maximize the return from their local photo radar initiatives. Prescott Valley's private speed camera company, Redflex, has found a way to charge motorists an extra $26 fee, for example. The Daily Courier newspaper reported that the Australian firm is sending process servers to the homes of motorists who take traffic school courses as permitted by law. Process servers are supposed to be used to provide official notification of a citation to motorists -- for a fee. Motorists who take a traffic school course before their court date have fulfilled their obligation under the law. The Courier cited the case of Rodney Szabo, 43, who was accused by a machine of driving 36 MPH in a 25 zone. He paid $130 for a traffic school class on June 21 but received on July 16 two separate notices from the court. One was confirmation that he had attended the course and the second was a bill for $26. When Szabo contested the fee, Judge Keith Carson insisted that he pay. Scottsdale is similarly taking advantage of a loophole in state law to trap motorists. In 2006, lawmakers mandated the use of signs to serve as a warning to drivers that they should slow down before reaching a speed camera. But this law only applies to cameras operating in locations where the speed limit is 45 MPH or greater. Drivers accustomed to seeing the signs have become conditioned to believe photo radar is not in use if no signs are visible. "Most cities do put out the signs anyway no matter what the speed limit is," the law's author, state Representative Bob Robson (R-Chandler), told the East Valley Tribune newspaper. "It's a fairness issue and a delicate balance between right and wrong." The Tribune reported that Scottsdale often does not use warning signs. As a result, its mobile camera program generates up to $72,000 in monthly revenue.

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