There are significant concerns that targeted tolling and road pricing implemented by states and localities will undermine the efficiency and consistency of the national highway network. Considering the many complications in price setting just described, states and cities could decide to pursue radically different pricing approaches that create negative external effects, such as restricting interstate movement of goods or shifting traffic to an already congested facility in another jurisdiction through overly aggressive price setting.
The federal government is uniquely positioned to understand and place appropriate importance on the impact of transportation management and investment decisions on interstate commerce, goods movement, and nationwide mobility. A robust, well-maintained, well-operated National Highway System remains a crucial economic necessity and should be the central focus of federal transportation investment and pricing decisions as well as of any federal oversight of state and local actions affecting tolling of facilities on the national network.
If state and local governments begin to use targeted tolling to a much greater extent than they currently do-for example, by applying for a slot in the Interstate tolling pilot program-federal oversight should work to ensure that the pricing decisions do not conflict with interstate commerce laws or objectives. Also, given that not all states and localities will be able to use tolling to a significant degree (particularly in rural areas) and that comprehensive road or system pricing is years away, there is the risk that a wide-scale shift to tolling could create the perception that there is no longer a need to increase general federal investment in highways and transit. Such a sentiment could negatively affect needed highway and transit investment.