FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 30, 1997
Contact: Michael Tebo (202) 328-5019 [email protected]
Majority of Southern Californians Support Congestion Tolls and Vehicle Emissions Fees If They Are Accompanied by Tax Cuts, RFF Survey Finds
WASHINGTON, DC -- Researchers at Resources for the Future (RFF) have found that nearly half of Southern Californians polled support congestion tolls on freeways and emissions fees on motor vehicles. They further find that public support can be substantially enhanced by returning some of the revenues raised from the tolls and fees as reductions in transportation-related taxes.
Sponsored by the Reducing Emissions and Congestion on Highways (REACH) Task Force, RFF's Winston Harrington, Alan Krupnick and Anna Alberini tested the political waters for a pollution reduction program during August and September 1996. They surveyed 3,458 adults ages 18 or older in the California counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura to estimate voting patterns in a hypothetical referendum concerning alternative pollution fee policies with and without various revenue recycling options.
"Most surveys that have tested public support for congestion tolls on freeways and emissions fees on motor vehicles have been vague about how the revenues collected would be used," Harrington says. "Or, when explicit, may have been offering goods that the public didn't care for, such as enhanced transit. Our conjecture is that congestion tolls and vehicle emissions fees have been unpopular because people have perceived them as tax increases with no discernible benefit. What we looked at is the idea of returning to consumers a substantial portion of the revenues raised by the fees. We wanted to see if the level of support is sensitive to the amount of revenue returned."
Of the 1,743 commuting motorists surveyed for the congestion toll policy, two out of five people said that they would support the base plan, which would levy a toll of five to ten cents per mile on freeway travel during rush hour. Among three alternatives presented, "fast lanes" were the most popular idea, with 46 percent support for converting the leftmost lane of an existing freeway into a toll lane. Public support increased to 55 percent if the congestion fees would be applied to newly-constructed fast lanes. [See attached fact sheet for survey details]
Of the 1,715 motorists surveyed about taxing vehicle emissions, nearly 40 percent of respondents agreed to support the base plan, which charged vehicle owners a fee based on their car's or truck's emissions rate (in grams per mile) multiplied by their miles driven. More than 50 percent supported the fee if a portion of the revenues would be returned as cash rebates through reductions in sales taxes and vehicle registration fees or through income tax credits. Nearly 42 percent supported the fee if a portion of the revenues would be returned as coupons, which could be used for public transit or to repair vehicle emissions equipment. [See attached fact sheet for survey details]
Although RFF's survey is not the first of its kind, it is unusual in several respects:
-- Respondents received unusually explicit information about the specific policy instrument that would be implemented and its projected benefits (for example, "bad" air days would be reduced from 120 to 60 per year). Previous surveys have asked about support for very general policies (for example, "to make people pay for the emissions from their vehicles") or in combination or in sequence with congestion policies. No prior survey has been devoted exclusively to specific policy instruments and examined its variations.
-- Respondents received unusually explicit information about the fate of the collected revenues.
-- Respondents received specific dollars-and-cents estimates of what his or her fee or toll would be under each policy. The base-rate vehicle emissions fees and congestion tolls were personalized and calculated based on a person's reported vehicle-miles-traveled, the age of his or her vehicle, and commuting behavior. "The results of our survey clearly indicate that congestion tolls and vehicle emissions fees in southern California can attract majority support from the public," Harrington says. "It also indicates where -- both geographically and demographically -- support and opposition to these plans may be found to aid in targeting publicity and informational campaigns."
The results of RFF's survey are being used to help design policies that have the greatest chance of gaining support from the public. REACH Task Force participants are now drafting a congestion fee proposal for presentation to the California legislature.
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Congestion Toll Survey
For the congestion toll policy, researchers polled 1,743 motorists to determine support for a base plan that levied a fee of five to ten cents per mile on freeway travel during rush hour. To estimate the weekly and annual fees that would be paid by each respondent, researchers obtained detailed information about commuting behavior, including the number of rush-hour commutes per week, travel time and distance, and travel mode.
The sample group was then split into thirds and respondents were asked to indicate their support for one of the following plans: congestion fees with a fee/tax reduction, where a percentage of the revenues would be returned to them in the form of reductions in sales taxes, state gasoline taxes, DMV registration fees, and license fees; congestion fees with coupons, where a percentage of the revenues would be returned as coupons that could be used for public and private transit, high-speed buses, or vehicle emissions equipment repair; and, fast lanes, where the leftmost lane of freeways would be subject to fees (no rebates were associated with this option, and in a follow-up question, respondents were told that new toll lanes would be built).
The survey's results suggest that two our of five commuting motorists in southern California will support the congestion fee base plan, even without being told specifically how the revenues were going to be used. Public acceptance is substantially enhanced by promising to return at least some of the revenues in the form of reductions in other taxes. Fast lanes were the most popular idea - 46 percent supported converting the leftmost lane of an existing freeway to a toll lane; support increased to 55 percent if the fees were applied to newly-constructed fast lanes.
Vehicle Emissions Fee Survey
For the pollution fee policy, researchers polled 1,715 motorists. They explained their hypothetical base plan which charged vehicle owners a fee based on their car's truck's emissions rate (in grams per mile) multiplied by their miles driven. They then split the sample group into two -- half of the respondents were told that a portion of the revenues would be returned to them in cash through reductions in sales taxes and vehicle registration fees or through income tax credits; the other half were told that these returns would be made in coupons, which could be used for public transit or to repair vehicle emissions equipment.
The survey's results suggest that nearly 40 percent of respondents agreed to support the base plan. More than 50 percent supported the fees with cash rebates, and support rose to 54 percent when all the available revenues are returned to the public. Support for the coupon policy attracted 42 percent support.
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