In March 2006 we completed a congestion relief analysis of Washington State’s three major urban areas: Central Puget Sound, Spokane and Vancouver.
We used computer models to look at a variety of congestion management strategies such as, general purpose lanes, carpool lanes, transit, transportation system efficiency improvements, and travel demand management, particularly roadway value pricing. The results provided some answers about how effective these strategies (singly and in combination) could be in reducing travel delay in 2025 if people continue to make the same travel decisions they do today.
According to computer modeling, as the urban areas grow, congestion will grow. By 2025, total travel delay could increase between three to five times in the three major urban areas without a substantial increase in transportation capacity or significant changes in travel behavior.
Study results show that a strategic combination of transportation supply and demand management holds the best promise in combating future growth in congestion on urban highways. When value pricing or tolling is added to a mix of highway and transit capacity improvements there is a large increase in benefits for a small additional cost. This suggests that this combination of capacity improvements and tolling should be given much greater attention as a strategy to fight congestion.
Read the full report online:
You will need Adobe Acrobat version 4.0 or higher to open these documents.
Executive Summary (pdf 419kb)
Methods Used for Analysis (pdf 544kb)
Central Puget Sound Area Report (pdf 429kb)
Vancouver Area Report (pdf 350kb)
Spokane Area Report (pdf 237kb)
Cost and Benefits (pdf 317kb)