WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Toll tales

The Legislature will be taking a close look at transportation issues in the next few months, and questions about tolls on highways and bridges are sure to be key parts of the discussion.

toll talesThe state Department of Transportation recently wrapped up public hearings in Seattle, Bellevue and Mercer Island on charging tolls on the Interstate-90 bridge across Lake Washington to help pay for the new State Route 520 bridge that crosses the lake a few miles to the north. WSDOT will accept additional comments through Nov. 6, as described in the department’s blog post about the information-gathering.

But the state has learned quite a bit about tolls from a federal study on the effects of tolls on the 520 bridge, which were imposed in the last week of 2011. That study was presented to the state Transportation Commission this month, and included these findings:

  • Avoidance: Traffic on the 520 bridge fell by nearly half after tolls were imposed (it also declined on the I-90 bridge in the study period, but not nearly as much). Remaining travelers in the cross-lake “corridor” are more likely to ride buses or choose alternate routes to 520 compared to their pre-toll choice, and those who switched routes or methods overwhelmingly cited the tolls as the reason.
  • Unequal impact: Travelers from lower-income households were much more likely to cut back on cross-lake trips than their wealthier counterparts, once the tolls were imposed. Drivers who switched from 520 to I-90 were more likely to be low-income males with inflexible travel schedules.
  • Paying for pleasure: Drivers who still use the 520 bridge enjoy the trip more than they did before tolls.

And the lake crossings aren’t the only routes that could be tolled: A September report by the department discussed different options for tolling I-5 and State Route 167 to help pay for the Puget Sound Gateway in King and Pierce counties.