Congestion Pricing's Wide Second-Order Benefits

Congestion pricing's benefits extend far beyond travel time: it can shift land use toward greater density (lowering the cost of public services and capturing economies of agglomeration), reduce carbon emissions, and dampen the 'peer effects' arms race in which drivers buy ever-larger, higher-horsepower cars to feel safer in heavy traffic—since virtually all engine improvement since the 1980s has gone into horsepower rather than fuel economy, plausibly because rising congestion drives demand for bigger cars.