Suppose a government adds two lanes to a highway in both directions, but then restricts access to those lanes. The lanes will be “managed” — open only to people in carpools, or to people in single-occupancy vehicles who pay a toll. The toll will vary in response to demand, with the goal of avoiding congestion and keeping vehicles moving.

Will the total amount of driving in the region rise, fall, or not change?

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Can congestion pricing be implemented in a way that protects vulnerable residents of California? This report examines that question from two perspectives. First, we estimate the size of the vulnerable population likely to be impacted if congestion pricing were introduced on California’s urban freeways. Second, we consider ways to mitigate these burdens. 

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Transportation scholars regularly argue that congestion pricing is the only reliable way to reduce road traffic congestion. The public often resists this advice, often out of confusion about how pricing would work, concern about whether it would be fair, and a belief that some other, less politically-explosive approach might work just as well. This explanatory essay addresses some of those common concerns.

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Can pricing roads really help reduce congestion? One way to answer this question is to ask if not pricing roads causes congestion. This essay by Michael Manville makes that case, and does so by demonstrating the general principle that when goods are underpriced, shortages result, and congestion is essentially a shortage of road space. People react and adjust in many ways to shortages, but accurate pricing is the only reliable way to end a shortage caused by mispricing.

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On Oct. 13–15, 2024, nearly 170 representatives of government, private sector consulting firms and companies, nonproft and advocacy groups, and universities joined the 2024 UCLA Arrowhead Symposium on mega events, like the upcoming 2028 Olympics and Paralympics. This report summarizes the discussions, lessons learned, and action items from the convening.

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