Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – Commuting into the District’s already pricey when you factor in gas, tolls and parking, but it may get worse. The D.C. Council voted this week to do a study on charging commuters extra to drive downtown at rush hour to ease traffic congestion.
“What it is intended to do is to convince those of us who drive our cars by ourselves and take up a lot of space and create air pollution and so forth to think of alternative ways to get downtown, shifting, making it so expensive to drive yourself that you would consider riding the bus or taking the Metro or carpooling,” said Stephen Fuller, a professor at the George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government, which teamed up with the Washington Post to conduct a study on congestion pricing.
Not surprisingly, the study found 63% of area residents think a commuter tax is a bad idea. The study surveyed 1,500 people with one-third coming from each Maryland, Virginia and the District.
Fuller said there are lots of factors that will go into figuring out whether the proposed commuter tax is a good idea.
While it may not be popular, the tax could be effective. Fuller said London and Singapore have charged commuter taxes for years, and both cities have seen less traffic as a result.
Despite opposition from commuters, New York City will be the first American city to charge a commuter tax. Drivers will have to pay to bring their cars into the most congested areas of Manhattan starting in 2021.
Another plus is the money could be used to improve roads or the Metro system.
Still, there could be downsides.
“The cost of doing this to the District is it may discourage employers from locating their businesses downtown because their workforce lives in the suburbs and may be…may not want to pick up this extra, have this extra cost of getting to work,” Fuller said.
Another disadvantage is businesses not easily accessible by car could lose customers. Fuller said that happened years ago when the District implemented the Streets for People program, which closed some downtown streets to vehicles.
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