The anti-car dream: Congestion Pricing

Something local anti-car liberals have in common with President Trump: if you have an unpopular policy, bring the fear:

Downtown San Francisco might be a ghost town now, but city officials anticipate congestion will climb back to the same record-high levels it held as recently as last year. Unless, that is, the agency can figure out a way to move cars off the road. (With traffic on the rise, city looks to congestion pricing as a possible fix)

Right. Surely we don't want to return to those awful days of yore, when the economy---and of course traffic---was booming? Instead, let's follow the lead of the anti-car movement and start charging people a $10 or $12 fee when they drive downtown. 

Never mind that that policy would devastate what remains of the retail businesses downtown. City Hall and the bike cult have never shown any interest in the interests of the small businesses in city neighborhoods. 

Congestion Pricing would be a two-fer for City Hall: punish those who insist on driving those wicked motor vehicles and, just as important, raise a lot of money to pay for bloated city agencies.

The San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA)---not to be confused with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA)---has without success been pushing Congestion Pricing for years, particularly under the leadership of Tilly Chang, who has dedicated most of her career to the idea.

The SFCTA has launched a new campaign:

The San Francisco County Transportation Authority is seeking public input on what a congestion pricing program, which would charge a fee to drivers entering the highly trafficked areas of Downtown and SOMa in an effort to reduce the number of cars, might look like in San Francisco.

Residents can participate in a town hall, participate in a workshop on September 1 or complete surveys in four different languages over text to learn more about the research and give their opinion.

When you go to the SFCTA's site, you are told that the agency wants your "input," but when you click on "read more," you don't find actual surveys to fill out in any language. Instead you get an elaborate sales pitch that includes a video and a video game. Whee!:

Gridlocked traffic during morning and evening rush hours in these downtown neighborhoods has historically led to travel delays, less reliable Muni arrival times and greater injury risk for people traveling by foot, bike or scooter. Low-income communities and people of color are especially hurt by congestion. They’re more likely to be transit-dependent and disproportionately affected by delays, and they tend to live and work in zones with higher rates of traffic collisions.

Well, maybe. What about white people who happen to live in the same communities or even with "people of color"? Will they get the same discount? 

Hard to see how the policy will be administered, since most city neighborhoods are more or less integrated. The technology exists to take pictures of license plates. Will the pictures also show the driver's race, or will that be determined by whoever owns the car? Or what neighborhood the car is coming from?

Or will people in "low-income communities" have to apply to qualify for some kind of discount?

Congestion pricing has always polled poorly with city residents. Questions like the above will probably make the idea even less popular.

See also The Chronicle distorts poll results---again and The Examiner and the city's "war on cars"

2010 Map

Congestion Pricing: Latest Map

Note that the latest version of the Congestion Pricing map doesn't include any street names. The less people know about the plan the better the city likes it.