The long saga of Seattle’s big dig is nearly over with the two-mile tunnel under the city’s downtown set to be open early 2019, rerouting one of Seattle’s two North-South highways.
However, tolls for the new route are far lower than are necessary to make sure drivers don’t avoid the tunnel and clog downtown streets.
The tunnel replaces an unsightly and dangerous bridge that separated Seattle from its waterfront. Like with many major infrastructure projects, its construction faced considerable delays and cost overruns. Though the new tunnel will be tolled to offset these costs, Washington State Transportation Commission (WSTC) wants to set the toll (which will fluctuate based on time of day) to peak at $2.25, cheaper even than bus fare and nearly half of the $4 that would be required to fulfill the original promise of covering $400 million of the tunnel’s cost. Instead, $200 million will be made up by redirecting additional gas tax revenue, robbing other potential projects of much-needed funds.
WSTC is concerned that if fares are too high, drivers will avoid the tunnel and take free downtown streets instead. This is a real concern and one that Washington transportation planners have had direct experience with after tolling began on the 520 bridge on Lake Washington, where drivers diverted far north and south to avoid the toll.
There are cheaper and more effective ways to redirect traffic from downtown streets and into the tunnel. Why not raise the cost of driving downtown with congestion pricing? By raising prices on downtown streets, the tunnel could compete better.
If the goal is to lower congestion downtown, lowering transit fares instead of tolls is also a good solution. Currently, it is “free” to drive into downtown (not including parking) but it costs $2.75 in bus fare for the same commute – fifty cents more than the cost of using the tunnel. While drivers do pay for some of the cost of maintaining roads through gas taxes, they don’t see this fee when they get into their car like bus riders and toll payers do.
Gas taxes, however, do not even cover the entire cost of the downtown tunnel project. So in effect, non-driving taxpayers are subsidizing downtown drivers to mitigate downtown congestion. Seattle has seen great success in decreases the percentage of downtown car trips by improving bus service and transit infrastructure and should continue to focus on making transit easier instead of subsidizing the true cost of driving.
Photo of the tunnel by the Washington State Department of Transportation.