8 ms·

Traffic Congestion and Infant Health: Evidence from E-ZPass [pdf]

79 points by kvee 4y ago

zeotroph 4y ago
E-ZPass is a way to collect tolls without each car having to slow down at a toll booth. That reduces traffic congestion and thereby air pollution - which might kill children. Or does kill children as the authors argue. This paper is from 2011 and appeared in the journal Applied Economics, but that is behind a paywall.
- lsllc 4y ago
  The only downside (from the drivers perspective at least) with the newer high-speed tolling is that there are new tolls appearing all up and down the east coast of the US that didn't exist before due to the cost/complexity of building toll plazas, whereas now it just needs a gantry over the highway with some scanners/cameras. In the DELMARVA area in particular there are now "express lanes" on I-95 that you can pay a little extra to use the lane, the tolls seem to be variable too (presumably depending on traffic).
  - CydeWeys 4y ago
    Economically speaking, increasing prices on a scarce resource (travel lanes) where demand exceeds supply totally makes sense. Helps get the road users to pay more of their fair share, too (rather than taking it out of all of our income taxes equally).
    - throwaway0a5e 4y ago
      Any toll expensive enough to effect usage are an affront to the entire point of publicly funded infrastructure. The janitor has just as much right to waste his time in gridlock as the tech bro does.
      - frosted-flakes 4y ago
        So then why don't we make public transit (buses, trains, etc.) free? These are publicly-funded infrastructure, and the fares exist primarily to limit usage, in addition to help fund the system. The fact that motorists expect to get free roads while public transit users have to pay is an affront to the entire point of publicly-funded infrastructure.
  - dwater 4y ago
    Those are mostly HOT lanes - High Occupancy Toll. If you have the correct EZPass they are free with 3+ occupants. The toll is for drivers with less than 3 occupants who are willing to pay the premium, which scales with traffic and has a "soft limit" of $1.50/mile last I saw.
    - jwineinger 4y ago
      How do they know the number of occupants at the time of toll? Do you have a switch on the transponder or something?
      - robswc 4y ago
        There's a switch you hit when you have enough ppl. I imagine they have a few ways of checking if there's actually 3+ ppl but not sure if there's an "official" answer.
kappuchino 4y ago
Coming from Central Europe where toll booths are not a thing: I thought it should maybe read "reduced infant mortality to numbers in cities/countries without toll booths" ...
- kube-system 4y ago
  Most EZ-Pass locations usually still have toll booths, they simply allow drivers who have a transponder to continue through more quickly.
  - adambatkin 4y ago
    They have been moving toward a model where there are no more toll booths, no one slows down. If you have EZ Pass, you are scammed and your account billed. If you don't, they take a picture of your license plate and mail you a bill. Much of the NY/NJ area now operates on this model.
    - neon_electro 4y ago
      At first I thought you were using “scammed” literally, on second glance I’m guessing you meant “scanned”.
    - kube-system 4y ago
      That’s usually called “toll by plate” not EZ Pass.
      - matwood 4y ago
        Correct. Typically they give a small discount if you do EZPass otherwise it's toll by plate. E470 around Denver has been like this for...decades maybe.
        macinjosh 4y ago
        Since this has gone into place I have been sent at least 3 bills for trips on E-470 I never took. One time it was sent to collections because I would not pay. They turned out to be false matches of my license plate number with their automated camera system.
StapleHorse 4y ago
I used to live in front of a traffic light intersection in a street with lots of traffic. The noise and even the smell was awful. Avoiding that situation was a top priority when I moved to my current place.
- kspacewalk2 4y ago
  My city only approves high-rise and medium density developments next to major streets, leaving the insides of major blocks entirely to single family homes and occasional townhouses. Just your typical NIMBY asshole land. There's a recently built 9 storey building at one of the busiest intersections in the city. If you look at the rental ads, it's all luxury finish, shiny appliances, modern kitchens with marble this and oak that. Personally, I'd much rather live in a dated or even run down apartment in a quiet street than in this "luxury" where I can't open the windows and can hear traffic even with them closed.
  - antisthenes 4y ago
    When I used to work in the office (pre-COVID), there was a 5-story apartment building built in what I can only describe the worst location possible. Side 1 - The busiest Firefighting station of the town on a road named the most dangerous road of the town by a local news source Side 2 - Qdoba & Chinese food restaurants, followed closely by the busiest artery of the town Side 3 - Shopping Plaza parking lot with at least 500 car capacity Side 4 - our office building & post office I struggled to imagine the kind of person who willingly decides to live in a place surrounded by car traffic, (thus air pollution and noise) at least 12 hours a day. The complex didn't even have any kind of greenery around it, except for a few shrubs. Also, if you lived on the bottom 2 floors, you had a view of the concrete car garage of the complex and nothing else (garage was immediately adjacent to the shopping plaza)
CalRobert 4y ago
Fascinating - I always had a hunch that the Covid lockdowns would save more lives from reductions in pollution than covid itself, I hope studies (like this one) can explore that topic.
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
  Are you saying that you believe more lives were saved due to reduced pollution than were saved due to keeping the pandemic restrained? I find that very hard to believe, considering the massive excess deaths that would result from overloaded hospitals, if the pandemic were allowed to rage on unstopped.
  - parametrizept 4y ago
    Sweden
    - mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
      Powerful argument.
      - fieldcny 4y ago
        Not really, It was just a word. Assuming they were making mention of Swedens recommendations only approach, it’s still not a good argument because there are plenty of countries that tried similar methods and failed miserably (e.g. Brazil). There are a lot of confounding factors not controlled for or properly studied.
        mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
        I was obviously being sarcastic.
        pc86 4y ago
        Might I suggest you read: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
rob_c 4y ago
economics*.edu , microsoft word, economics combined with statistical correlation... I've got a nice bridge to sell the author...
- hyperbovine 4y ago
  Where to even begin with this comment.
- resoluteteeth 4y ago
  The whole point of this paper is that it's not just showing a correlation between proximity to toll booths and infant mortality, it's showing that adding E-ZPass reduced infant mortality, which makes the method essentially the same as an interventional study even though E-ZPass system wasn't installed for the study.
cbxyp 4y ago
Being in a separate lane from the majority of traffic makes traffic deaths far less likely. 3+ HOV lanes (mother, child, father) are quite worthwhile. Driving in California I know I'd rather pay the toll than be in traffic with unpredictable vehicles.
- Waterluvian 4y ago
  It’s fascinating how easily a well-intentioned idea can become discriminatory. 1. let’s make families safer 2. 3+ HOV lanes to select for families 3. Single parents of one don’t apply
  - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
    3+ HOV lanes aren’t oriented at families, it’s just coincidence that two parents and one kid reach that threshold. Where I live 2+ carpools are the norm which are great when I’m out with my son. But no, no one designed carpools to make families safer.
    - Waterluvian 4y ago
      Yeah it’s 2+ here too. I’m pretty sure it was purely a cut off based on quantity of vehicles of each mode. I’m more speaking to the above good-faith idea.
      - jliptzin 4y ago
        Where I live it goes down to 1 if you’re driving an electric vehicle
        frosted-flakes 4y ago
        Toronto has some special purpose lanes that "green" vehicles* are allowed to use, in addition to buses and HOVs. But I'm pretty sure the new HOV lanes on the 400 don't include green vehicles, and at some point I expect "green" vehicles to lose this special privilege. * You can apply to get a green licence plate if your car meets certain emissions standards.
crikeyjoe 4y ago

79 points by kvee 4y ago

E-ZPass is a way to collect tolls without each car having to slow down at a toll booth. That reduces traffic congestion and thereby air pollution - which might kill children. Or does kill children as the authors argue. This paper is from 2011 and appeared in the journal Applied Economics, but that is behind a paywall.

lsllc 4y ago
The only downside (from the drivers perspective at least) with the newer high-speed tolling is that there are new tolls appearing all up and down the east coast of the US that didn't exist before due to the cost/complexity of building toll plazas, whereas now it just needs a gantry over the highway with some scanners/cameras. In the DELMARVA area in particular there are now "express lanes" on I-95 that you can pay a little extra to use the lane, the tolls seem to be variable too (presumably depending on traffic).
- CydeWeys 4y ago
  Economically speaking, increasing prices on a scarce resource (travel lanes) where demand exceeds supply totally makes sense. Helps get the road users to pay more of their fair share, too (rather than taking it out of all of our income taxes equally).
  - throwaway0a5e 4y ago
    Any toll expensive enough to effect usage are an affront to the entire point of publicly funded infrastructure. The janitor has just as much right to waste his time in gridlock as the tech bro does.
    - frosted-flakes 4y ago
      So then why don't we make public transit (buses, trains, etc.) free? These are publicly-funded infrastructure, and the fares exist primarily to limit usage, in addition to help fund the system. The fact that motorists expect to get free roads while public transit users have to pay is an affront to the entire point of publicly-funded infrastructure.
- dwater 4y ago
  Those are mostly HOT lanes - High Occupancy Toll. If you have the correct EZPass they are free with 3+ occupants. The toll is for drivers with less than 3 occupants who are willing to pay the premium, which scales with traffic and has a "soft limit" of $1.50/mile last I saw.
  - jwineinger 4y ago
    How do they know the number of occupants at the time of toll? Do you have a switch on the transponder or something?
    - robswc 4y ago
      There's a switch you hit when you have enough ppl. I imagine they have a few ways of checking if there's actually 3+ ppl but not sure if there's an "official" answer.

kappuchino 4y ago

Coming from Central Europe where toll booths are not a thing: I thought it should maybe read "reduced infant mortality to numbers in cities/countries without toll booths" ...

kube-system 4y ago
Most EZ-Pass locations usually still have toll booths, they simply allow drivers who have a transponder to continue through more quickly.
- adambatkin 4y ago
  They have been moving toward a model where there are no more toll booths, no one slows down. If you have EZ Pass, you are scammed and your account billed. If you don't, they take a picture of your license plate and mail you a bill. Much of the NY/NJ area now operates on this model.
  - neon_electro 4y ago
    At first I thought you were using “scammed” literally, on second glance I’m guessing you meant “scanned”.
  - kube-system 4y ago
    That’s usually called “toll by plate” not EZ Pass.
    - matwood 4y ago
      Correct. Typically they give a small discount if you do EZPass otherwise it's toll by plate. E470 around Denver has been like this for...decades maybe.
      - macinjosh 4y ago
        Since this has gone into place I have been sent at least 3 bills for trips on E-470 I never took. One time it was sent to collections because I would not pay. They turned out to be false matches of my license plate number with their automated camera system.

StapleHorse 4y ago

I used to live in front of a traffic light intersection in a street with lots of traffic. The noise and even the smell was awful. Avoiding that situation was a top priority when I moved to my current place.

kspacewalk2 4y ago
My city only approves high-rise and medium density developments next to major streets, leaving the insides of major blocks entirely to single family homes and occasional townhouses. Just your typical NIMBY asshole land. There's a recently built 9 storey building at one of the busiest intersections in the city. If you look at the rental ads, it's all luxury finish, shiny appliances, modern kitchens with marble this and oak that. Personally, I'd much rather live in a dated or even run down apartment in a quiet street than in this "luxury" where I can't open the windows and can hear traffic even with them closed.
- antisthenes 4y ago
  When I used to work in the office (pre-COVID), there was a 5-story apartment building built in what I can only describe the worst location possible. Side 1 - The busiest Firefighting station of the town on a road named the most dangerous road of the town by a local news source Side 2 - Qdoba & Chinese food restaurants, followed closely by the busiest artery of the town Side 3 - Shopping Plaza parking lot with at least 500 car capacity Side 4 - our office building & post office I struggled to imagine the kind of person who willingly decides to live in a place surrounded by car traffic, (thus air pollution and noise) at least 12 hours a day. The complex didn't even have any kind of greenery around it, except for a few shrubs. Also, if you lived on the bottom 2 floors, you had a view of the concrete car garage of the complex and nothing else (garage was immediately adjacent to the shopping plaza)

CalRobert 4y ago

Fascinating - I always had a hunch that the Covid lockdowns would save more lives from reductions in pollution than covid itself, I hope studies (like this one) can explore that topic.

mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
Are you saying that you believe more lives were saved due to reduced pollution than were saved due to keeping the pandemic restrained? I find that very hard to believe, considering the massive excess deaths that would result from overloaded hospitals, if the pandemic were allowed to rage on unstopped.
- parametrizept 4y ago
  Sweden
  - mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
    Powerful argument.
    - fieldcny 4y ago
      Not really, It was just a word. Assuming they were making mention of Swedens recommendations only approach, it’s still not a good argument because there are plenty of countries that tried similar methods and failed miserably (e.g. Brazil). There are a lot of confounding factors not controlled for or properly studied.
      - mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
        I was obviously being sarcastic.
        pc86 4y ago
        Might I suggest you read: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

rob_c 4y ago

economics*.edu , microsoft word, economics combined with statistical correlation... I've got a nice bridge to sell the author...

hyperbovine 4y ago
Where to even begin with this comment.
resoluteteeth 4y ago
The whole point of this paper is that it's not just showing a correlation between proximity to toll booths and infant mortality, it's showing that adding E-ZPass reduced infant mortality, which makes the method essentially the same as an interventional study even though E-ZPass system wasn't installed for the study.

cbxyp 4y ago

Being in a separate lane from the majority of traffic makes traffic deaths far less likely. 3+ HOV lanes (mother, child, father) are quite worthwhile. Driving in California I know I'd rather pay the toll than be in traffic with unpredictable vehicles.

Waterluvian 4y ago
It’s fascinating how easily a well-intentioned idea can become discriminatory. 1. let’s make families safer 2. 3+ HOV lanes to select for families 3. Single parents of one don’t apply
- seanmcdirmid 4y ago
  3+ HOV lanes aren’t oriented at families, it’s just coincidence that two parents and one kid reach that threshold. Where I live 2+ carpools are the norm which are great when I’m out with my son. But no, no one designed carpools to make families safer.
  - Waterluvian 4y ago
    Yeah it’s 2+ here too. I’m pretty sure it was purely a cut off based on quantity of vehicles of each mode. I’m more speaking to the above good-faith idea.
    - jliptzin 4y ago
      Where I live it goes down to 1 if you’re driving an electric vehicle
      - frosted-flakes 4y ago
        Toronto has some special purpose lanes that "green" vehicles* are allowed to use, in addition to buses and HOVs. But I'm pretty sure the new HOV lanes on the 400 don't include green vehicles, and at some point I expect "green" vehicles to lose this special privilege. * You can apply to get a green licence plate if your car meets certain emissions standards.

crikeyjoe 4y ago