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July 2003
Civil engineering researcher publishes book: Financing Transportation Networks
David Levinson
Will toll roads ever be the norm and "free" roads a distant memory? This is the question Assistant Professor David Levinson of the Department of Civil Engineering asks in the introduction of his new book, Financing Transportation Networks.
Hybrid vehicles, alternative fuels, congestion, pollution, intelligent transportation systems, and the shift from construction to maintenance all call for a reconsideration of the existing highway revenue mechanisms, in particular, the gas tax. Levinson explores the fundamental theoretical basis of highway finance, focusing on the use of tolls, and supports that theory with empirical evidence. He examines highway finance from the perspective of individual jurisdictions and travelers, and considers their interactions, rather than specifying a single optimal solution.
Topics explored in the book include the historical rise and fall of turnpikes, the deployment of electronic toll collection, and why some states impose tolls while others rely more heavily on gas and other taxes. Levinson also develops frameworks for evaluating the effects of financing decisions and offers possible deployment scenarios that could lead to widespread adoption of road pricing.
Congestion pricing has long been a goal of transportation economists, who believe it will result in a more efficient use of resources. Levinson argues that if the governance were to become more decentralized and collection costs continue to drop, tolls could return to prominence as the preferred means of financing roads for both local and intercity travel. An approach that creates the "local winners" necessary to implement road pricing is required before it can be expected to become widespread, he cautions.
While transportation financing is now sparking renewed interest, it has been around since "the beginning of organized transportation," Levinson writes, noting how the ancient Greeks placed a coin–Charon's toll–in the mouth or hand of the dead to ferry the spirit across the river Styx.
Such observations are sprinkled throughout Levinson's 232-page book, published by Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. The book is based in part on Levinson's doctoral dissertation On Whom the Toll Falls, completed in 1998. To order a copy of the book, which is part of Elgar's Transport Economics, Management and Policy Series, please e-mail info@e-elgar.co.uk, or visit Elgar's Web site at www.e-elgar.co.uk.