Darrin Roth

1
INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ROAD PRICING

• Darrin Roth
• American Trucking Associations, Inc.

2
WHAT IS ATA?

• National representative of the trucking industry
• Diverse membership size, sector, geography
• Federation of associations with 37,000 members

3
MANDATORY VS. VOLUNTARY

• Oppose tolls on existing Interstates
• Support the concept of voluntary tollshowever,
  many companies distrust states, toll authorities
• Believe voluntary tolls may eventually become
  mandatory
• Only way to attract significant number of trucks
  is to allow productivity improvements
• History of unaccountable toll authorities

4
DOUBLE TAXATION

• Oppose double taxation
• Already pay state, federal highway user fees for
  use of facility
• True user fee would charge true cost, with
  revenues spent exclusively on facility
  improvements
• Double taxation eliminates philosophical argument
  that a toll is the most equitable form of
  taxation
• Not politically realistic that states would
• refund money

5
REVENUE EXPENDITURE

• Revenues spent only on
• Debt service
• Operations
• Reasonable return on investment
• Revenues should not be spent on projects
  unrelated to the facility
• Tolls should be eliminated once bonds are retired
  and integrated into state highway program not
  realistic

6
VALUE/CONGESTION PRICING

• Passenger and commercial vehicles react
  differently to pricing
• Much research on passenger effects small body of
  research on commercial, mostly related to
  benefits of less congestion

7
VALUE/CONGESTION PRICING

• SHIPPERS SCHEDULE DELIVERIES!!!!
• Most trucking companies either dont pass toll
  costs on or spread them around to all customers
• No incentive for shippers to change delivery
  times
• Most truckers schedule around rush hour, avoid
  congested roads without pricing

8
VALUE/CONGESTION PRICING

• Shippers unlikely to change pickup/delivery hours
  even with a surcharge
• Employee overtime pay cost-prohibitive
• Interruption to supply-chain management could
  result in higher cost than surcharge

9
VALUE/CONGESTION PRICING

• Vilain/Wolfrom Study
• Value Pricing and Freight Traffic Issues and
  Industry Constraints in Shifting from Peak to
  Off-Peak Movements, 2000
• Interviewed 50 trucking companies in NYC area to
  gauge reactions to value pricing
• Found toll costs are a relatively insignificant
  factor in determining travel choices
• Predicted modest changes in behavior

10
TRAFFIC DIVERSION

• Diversion of traffic not well known or understood
• Research generally done on front end or when
  major rate increase proposed to determine revenue
  impacts
• Social, economic impacts must be examined when a
  new toll road or higher rates are proposed

11
TRAFFIC DIVERSION - I-81

• 2 proposals for tolling Interstate 81 Virginia
• STAR Solutions
• 4 tolled truck-only lanes, existing lanes
  toll-free, reserved for cars
• Kornhauser study determined 50 diversion with 20
  cents/mile toll rate

12
TRAFFIC DIVERSION - I-81

• Fluor Virginia
• 2 new lanes, all lanes, all vehicles tolled
• Fluors own study showed at 17 cents per mile for
  trucks, 5 cents per mile for cars
• 85 of local passenger and commercial traffic
  diverts
• 35 of long-distance commercial traffic diverts
• 45 of long-distance passenger traffic diverts
• Survey of 34 VA-based trucking companies found
  that 91 of respondents would use alternate
  routes to avoid a toll

13
Diversion Ohio Turnpike

• Recent study found significant diversion from
  Ohio Turnpike following 82 toll rate hike
• Vehicles using congested alternate routes instead
  of free-flowing turnpike
• 70 of trucks on one arterial using road solely
  to avoid toll
• Other local roads 30-50 truck traffic

14
Social Impacts of Traffic Diversion

• Safety
• Generates additional VMT
• Accident rates on alternate routes at least 4
  times higher than Interstates
• More fuel burned as VMT, congestion increases
• Quality of life decreases as truck traffic
  diverts to roads in populated areas
• Additional costs to lower-order roads
• Economic costs

15
GERMAN ROAD PRICING

• Many technical challenges
• Privacy concerns more pronounced in U.S.
• U.S. requires more extensive infrastructure
  because of better-developed road system
• Extremely expensive
• On-board units cost 500 Euros each
• Assuming 500 cost, retrofitting approx. 1.5
  billion, annual cost to install in new vehicles
  200 million

16
TOLLS WE CAN SUPPORT

• Reason Foundation truck lanes
• Trans-Texas Corridor
• Southern California truck lane proposal
• FAST Lanes
• HOT Lanes on existing HOV lanes
• MUST BE VOLUNTARY, MUST HAVE NON-TOLL ALTERNATIVE

17
CONCLUSIONS

• Trucking companies will always favor fuel tax
  increase over tolls
• Easier to pass on
• Lower administrative costs
• Technology allows for cost-efficient evasion of
  tolls
• Mandatory tolls reduce industry productivity more
  than fuel tax increases unless equipment
  productivity increases