Would you pay a toll to avoid traffic congestion?

Two economists have suggested tolls could alleviate traffic congestion during peak travel times, according to the technology magazine Wired. ( | The Times-Picayune file photo)

With the debate over whether to extend the Crescent City Connection tolls reaching a virulent pitch last year, the mere mention evokes anger. But an article in Wired, the technology magazine, suggests that tolls may be a better option for handling traffic congestion instead of building more roads.

Economists Matthew Turner of the University of Toronto and Gilles Duranton of the University of Pennsylvania studied 20 years worth of road construction around the country. They found that the amount of construction mirrored the increase in traffic. For example, if road construction rose by 10 percent, so did traffic.

It noted that in cities, such as London and Singapore, charging drivers a fee to use highly congested roads during rush hour led to a decrease in traffic. The Wired report suggests the fee would force drivers to rethink whether a trip is necessary or steer them toward public transit.

"If we gave drivers some extra incentive to avoid the most congested hours, we could better utilize the roads' capacities,'' according to the Wired article written by Adam Mann.

While most folks aren't likely to support the move, the Wired article says looking at what drivers pay for parking is an option. Parking is cheap and often free. But by raising the price of parking during high traffic travel times, drivers might be prompted to leave sooner, lessening traffic jams, Wired said. San Francisco implemented such a practice in 2011.

Would you be willing to pay a toll if it shortened your commute? Is raising the cost of parking during high traffic times an alternative? Or is improving public transit and providing incentives to commuters for use a better option? Take the poll and talk about it in the comment stream.