Study to look at toll road 'congestion pricing'

It's no secret to anyone who uses local toll roads — even occasionally — that they can get just as crowded and backed up as the non-toll freeways. It's a problem that seems to have no easy situation: build more roads, widen the existing ones, create a useful mass transit network (God forbid) or ... raise tolls. It's that last option that Harris County officials are spending $250,000 to study.

Overall, the study will look at the feasibility of raising tolls on county toll roads, which is something that happens every once in a while anyway. But there's something else: The county is also looking at raising the tolls even more during rush hour, apparently with the thought that doing so might drive some motorists back to the non-toll roads.

"Part of the study is congestion pricing -- the possibility of during rush hours times they could raise tolls so people who do use it will have to pay a little more," explained [spokeswoman for County Judge Robert Eckels] Gloria Roemer. "That may make some people not want to use it."

Eckels himself told KTRK that, regardless of the congestion pricing idea, tolls will increase at some point in the future as inflation increases. Previous toll increases haven't led to substantially fewer people using toll roads, and we're not sure that putting a premium on tolls at rush hour would really decrease traffic, either — if a toll road goes where someone needs it to, we imagine they'll pay any reasonable amount to use it.

County commissioners approved the toll study yesterday, and KTRK reports it will take several months to complete.