Comment Economics of traffic (Score 2, Insightful) 632
The problem is that the roads indeed are a "public good" much like having clean air and water. They are, in economic terms, an "externality" or that which lies outside our capitalistic market economy because it has no pricetag attached to using the resource. Laws of supply and demand do not apply. Price does not rise to demand because it just isnt feasible (in simplified example) to collect $5 from every person who is willing to pay exactly $5 more to have exactly $5-per-person-worth less traffic on the roads. So you can toss those neat theoretical supply/demand graphs right out the window in the case of public goods.
Without a pricetag attached to any "good" people are left to act in their own self interest. Now, dont get me wrong, self interest does not mean self centered. In fact, some people do choose to ride a bike to work just because its better for the environment. But even though most people will agree that public goods are just that, a good thing to have that we should preserve, the fact remains that people need incentives on an individual basis that promote them to act more in accordance with the overall good than they would otherwise. To put it simply, without individual incentives most of us feel like "why should I inconvenience myself if the other 90 thousand people wont?"
I'll argue that carpool lanes are a correct attempt at providing incentives (decreased commute time, decreased costs if you split the cost with your carpool partner, etc) for doing the right thing which is reducing the number of cars on the road, emmissions into the air etc. However, carpool lanes are quite obviously not good enough. Perhaps they work in theory, but not in implementation because they arent enforced well enough, or the fine isnt high enough (or both) to eliminate the incentive to cheat. Carpool lanes also do not encompass the entire spectrum of situations. They do not differentiate between the SUV drivers and the Prius drivers, there are not sufficient carpool lanes to get anyone ALL the way from one place to another, and they dont help the guy who doesnt take the bus because the bus doesnt run where he needs to go, when he needs to go. If you want people to do the right thing with respect to public goods the ONLY way to do it is find a way to attach a pricetag to doing the "bad" thing in direct relation to doing the bad thing and then let people make their own choices based on that incentive.
Seriously, Ebaying a few carpool passes isnt going to have much impact on the lane usage OR the budget. It is a curious study at best, a stab in the dark by clue-free politicians, but nothing drastic enough to get one's panties in a bunch about. I believe the correct answers to the traffic problems in every American city, are to increase the gas taxes til our gas per gallon is as much as Europe or higher, increase parking fees downtown until half of them are empty and the lot owner still makes the same revenue as before, and increase the carpool lane violation fines. Then use those revenues to fund the good things... the mass transit projects, the extra policemen to catch carpool violators, alternative fuel research, tax reduction on purchase of fuel efficient cars etc.
Before anyone gets on the soapbox of "you will hurt the lower income folks that must commute 40 miles one-way to their job," first think of driving a car not as a right, but as an environment-harming convenience. I would also suggest that this not be done overnight, but be a publically announced plan so people have time to adjust. Say, for example raise the gas tax 5 cents per gallon every month over the next 5 years, total raise $3/gallon. People WILL adjust. Some people will move closer to work. Some people will decide its time to trade in that SUV. Some people will keep their SUV but triple their efforts to find carpool partners. Some people will take the bus or perhaps the new light rail more often. Some people will buy a Segway or Prius or Motorcycle... Some people wont adjust at all but choose to pay the higher cost and everyone else can rest assured that those people are paying a higher portion of the taxes in direct proportion to the amount they drive and the amount of fuel their gas hog consumes. MOST IMPORTANTLY people will be able to base their decisions according to what works for them best given the incentive to change. No new roads necessary, no convoluted ebay schemes or fancy laws required.
Without a pricetag attached to any "good" people are left to act in their own self interest. Now, dont get me wrong, self interest does not mean self centered. In fact, some people do choose to ride a bike to work just because its better for the environment. But even though most people will agree that public goods are just that, a good thing to have that we should preserve, the fact remains that people need incentives on an individual basis that promote them to act more in accordance with the overall good than they would otherwise. To put it simply, without individual incentives most of us feel like "why should I inconvenience myself if the other 90 thousand people wont?"
I'll argue that carpool lanes are a correct attempt at providing incentives (decreased commute time, decreased costs if you split the cost with your carpool partner, etc) for doing the right thing which is reducing the number of cars on the road, emmissions into the air etc. However, carpool lanes are quite obviously not good enough. Perhaps they work in theory, but not in implementation because they arent enforced well enough, or the fine isnt high enough (or both) to eliminate the incentive to cheat. Carpool lanes also do not encompass the entire spectrum of situations. They do not differentiate between the SUV drivers and the Prius drivers, there are not sufficient carpool lanes to get anyone ALL the way from one place to another, and they dont help the guy who doesnt take the bus because the bus doesnt run where he needs to go, when he needs to go. If you want people to do the right thing with respect to public goods the ONLY way to do it is find a way to attach a pricetag to doing the "bad" thing in direct relation to doing the bad thing and then let people make their own choices based on that incentive.
Seriously, Ebaying a few carpool passes isnt going to have much impact on the lane usage OR the budget. It is a curious study at best, a stab in the dark by clue-free politicians, but nothing drastic enough to get one's panties in a bunch about. I believe the correct answers to the traffic problems in every American city, are to increase the gas taxes til our gas per gallon is as much as Europe or higher, increase parking fees downtown until half of them are empty and the lot owner still makes the same revenue as before, and increase the carpool lane violation fines. Then use those revenues to fund the good things... the mass transit projects, the extra policemen to catch carpool violators, alternative fuel research, tax reduction on purchase of fuel efficient cars etc.
Before anyone gets on the soapbox of "you will hurt the lower income folks that must commute 40 miles one-way to their job," first think of driving a car not as a right, but as an environment-harming convenience. I would also suggest that this not be done overnight, but be a publically announced plan so people have time to adjust. Say, for example raise the gas tax 5 cents per gallon every month over the next 5 years, total raise $3/gallon. People WILL adjust. Some people will move closer to work. Some people will decide its time to trade in that SUV. Some people will keep their SUV but triple their efforts to find carpool partners. Some people will take the bus or perhaps the new light rail more often. Some people will buy a Segway or Prius or Motorcycle... Some people wont adjust at all but choose to pay the higher cost and everyone else can rest assured that those people are paying a higher portion of the taxes in direct proportion to the amount they drive and the amount of fuel their gas hog consumes. MOST IMPORTANTLY people will be able to base their decisions according to what works for them best given the incentive to change. No new roads necessary, no convoluted ebay schemes or fancy laws required.
