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September 28, 2005
Can’t we all just get along?
Transportation funding often pits transit users against motorists. Naturally, each group wants more dough to build something—anything—that will help them avoid traffic congestion, which is increasing almost everywhere.
What to do?
In a new Reason study, Bob Poole and I suggest Virtual Exclusive Busways.
Here’s Bob:
- The idea of the study is to build on what we’ve learned about the power of value pricing to manage traffic flow during peak-period conditions, keeping them free-flowing and offering higher vehicle throughput than congested regular lanes. Value-priced lanes can therefore provide a transit agency with the virtual equivalent of an exclusive busway. The idea is to contractually reserve a portion of the managed lane’s capacity for transit vehicles (e.g., buses and vanpools) while the remaining capacity is sold to motorists at market prices.
A Virtual Exclusive Busway is vastly more cost-effective than building a conventional exclusive busway. In every metro area but New York , it would be very difficult in any corridor to fill enough buses to operate on 60-second headways (i.e., one per minute or 60 per hour). So a physical exclusive busway is an enormous waste of expensive concrete and right of way, since the vast majority of its capacity goes unused. But if that guideway is shared with paying customers, there is room for perhaps 1600 such cars per hour without in any way degrading the high-speed, free-flow characteristics of the traffic, thanks to value pricing.
We argue that VEB is a much better use of roadway space than carpool lanes. Even though agencies have built more and more carpool lanes, carpool commuting has actually been declining for over 20 years.
Carpooling doesn’t peak during the morning and afternoon rush when it would do the most to reduce congestion. Rather it’s most common during the evenings and on weekends. And these days, carpooling often fails to take cars off the road. Most carpooling is now “fampooling,” so people who would be traveling together anyway are filling up carpool lanes.
The VEB concept offers something for everyone. Transit users get better service, motorists get an escape route from congestion, local governments get a new source of revenue, and even carpoolers get something. After all, with tolling there’s still an incentive to carpool because, for example, commuters can share the cost of the toll.
Press release for Virtual Exclusive Busways: Improving Urban Transit while Relieving Congestion is here.
Study summary here.
Full study here.
Posted by tedb at September 28, 2005 10:03 AM
Basically nothing noteworthy happening right now, but eh. Today was a complete loss. I haven't been up to much recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten33860 at January 7, 2007 06:43 PM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen. Whatever. Not much on my mind lately. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten31396 at January 8, 2007 05:44 PM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen, but I don't care. Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten54155 at January 10, 2007 08:58 PM
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Not much on my mind lately. My life's been completely boring these days. I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. So it goes.
Comment by: Sten23875 at January 13, 2007 05:30 AM
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I haven't been up to much lately. I've basically been doing nothing , but it's not important. I can't be bothered with anything recently. I've just been letting everything happen without me lately.
Comment by: Sten51807 at January 15, 2007 08:43 PM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I can't be bothered with anything recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't gotten anything done recently, but oh well. Not much noteworthy going on worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten30644 at January 18, 2007 05:23 PM
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I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.
Comment by: Sten23247 at January 22, 2007 12:54 PM
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I haven't been up to anything recently, but so it goes. Such is life. What can I say? Pretty much not much exciting going on to speak of. I haven't gotten much done lately, but I don't care.
Comment by: Sten46744 at January 26, 2007 03:39 PM
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My mind is like a bunch of nothing, but I guess it doesn't bother me. I haven't been up to anything recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing to speak of.
Comment by: Sten53666 at January 26, 2007 06:39 PM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten60295 at January 26, 2007 09:46 PM
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I haven't been up to much these days. Today was a loss. Nothing seems important. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days.
Comment by: Sten67658 at January 27, 2007 04:30 AM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten88393 at January 27, 2007 06:30 AM
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I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.
Comment by: Sten19227 at January 27, 2007 06:36 PM
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My life's been pretty dull recently. Shrug. My mind is like a void. I haven't gotten anything done lately. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten48332 at January 27, 2007 07:43 PM
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Not much on my mind lately. My life's been completely boring these days. I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. So it goes.
Comment by: Sten13431 at January 27, 2007 11:27 PM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but shrug. I just don't have anything to say recently. I haven't gotten much done recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about.
Comment by: Sten56206 at January 28, 2007 01:20 AM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen, but I don't care. Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten96924 at January 28, 2007 03:57 AM
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I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.
Comment by: Sten20248 at January 28, 2007 10:32 AM
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My life's been pretty dull recently. Shrug. My mind is like a void. I haven't gotten anything done lately. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten88607 at January 28, 2007 04:54 PM
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I just don't have much to say these days, but so it goes. Today was a total loss. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten85494 at January 28, 2007 06:22 PM
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I feel like an empty room, but eh. Nothing seems worth doing. I haven't gotten much done today.
Comment by: Sten3628 at January 28, 2007 07:52 PM
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I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten27101 at January 29, 2007 12:57 AM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten15623 at January 29, 2007 01:09 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten23084 at January 29, 2007 04:02 PM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten80196 at January 29, 2007 08:20 PM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten56653 at January 30, 2007 07:35 AM
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Not much on my mind right now, but it's not important. I've just been letting everything happen without me. I just don't have anything to say right now.
Comment by: Sten43129 at January 30, 2007 09:39 AM
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Not much on my mind lately. My life's been completely boring these days. I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. So it goes.
Comment by: Sten56850 at February 1, 2007 12:11 AM
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I just don't have anything to say , but shrug. So it goes. Not much on my mind recently. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten82457 at February 1, 2007 05:25 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done today. I feel like a fog, but what can I say? I've just been letting everything wash over me lately, not that it matters. Shrug.
Comment by: Sten76529 at February 1, 2007 08:14 AM
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I've more or less been doing nothing worth mentioning, but eh. My life's been really bland today. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten15413 at February 1, 2007 05:14 PM
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I just don't have anything to say right now. I haven't been up to anything recently, but it's not important. I've just been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but shrug.
Comment by: Sten63462 at February 1, 2007 09:40 PM
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I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten84346 at February 2, 2007 02:02 AM
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I feel like a complete blank, but I don't care. Pfft. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten29856 at February 2, 2007 03:37 AM
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I feel like a complete blank, but I don't care. Pfft. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten57287 at February 2, 2007 12:01 PM
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I haven't been up to much today. I've just been letting everything happen without me. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I just don't have anything to say right now. More or less nothing happening.
Comment by: Sten72613 at February 2, 2007 01:42 PM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen, but I don't care. Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten69448 at February 2, 2007 08:49 PM
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I haven't been up to much lately. I've basically been doing nothing , but it's not important. I can't be bothered with anything recently. I've just been letting everything happen without me lately.
Comment by: Sten64223 at February 3, 2007 01:09 AM
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I feel like an empty room, but eh. Nothing seems worth doing. I haven't gotten much done today.
Comment by: Sten59498 at February 3, 2007 05:37 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten37482 at February 3, 2007 09:31 PM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but shrug. I just don't have anything to say recently. I haven't gotten much done recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about.
Comment by: Sten50550 at February 3, 2007 10:42 PM
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Basically nothing noteworthy happening right now, but eh. Today was a complete loss. I haven't been up to much recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten31739 at February 4, 2007 03:04 AM
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I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.
Comment by: Sten45651 at February 4, 2007 11:59 AM
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Not much on my mind lately. My life's been completely boring these days. I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. So it goes.
Comment by: Sten88755 at February 4, 2007 04:44 PM
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I feel like an empty room, but eh. Nothing seems worth doing. I haven't gotten much done today.
Comment by: Sten35551 at February 4, 2007 08:32 PM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten15489 at February 5, 2007 12:30 AM
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I just don't have much to say these days, but so it goes. Today was a total loss. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten29553 at February 5, 2007 04:22 PM
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I haven't been up to much lately. I've basically been doing nothing , but it's not important. I can't be bothered with anything recently. I've just been letting everything happen without me lately.
Comment by: Sten57150 at February 5, 2007 07:02 PM
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I just don't have anything to say , but shrug. So it goes. Not much on my mind recently. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten98225 at February 6, 2007 03:22 AM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen. Whatever. Not much on my mind lately. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten85901 at February 6, 2007 07:52 AM
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