LOCAL VIEW : TAKING THE TOLL ROAD TO TRANSPORTATION REALITY CHARGING DRIVERS TO USE CALIFORNIA'S HIGHWAYS COULD EASE CONGESTION AND FUND ROAD MAINTENANCE.

Byline: Robert Krol

PRESIDENT Clinton recently proposed a six-year, $175 billion transportation plan. What makes this plan interesting is that the president wants to give states the option to charge tolls on federal interstate highways.

Reaction by state politicians to the toll-road idea has been mostly negative. State Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer, D- Hayward, says ``it's a terrible idea,'' simply ``un-Californian.'' Assemblyman Scott Baugh, R-Huntington Beach, vice chairman of the Transportation Committee, thinks ``it's preposterous'' and ``it'll never fly.''

The Wilson administration seems willing to discuss the idea.

Converting the interstate highway system into a toll road is a good idea. Unfortunately, the administration see tolls as a source of additional funds to increase public construction of highways.

Before we decide to expand the transportation system, we must first manage our existing highways more efficiently. Tolls should be used to reduce congestion in urban areas.

Congress should work with Clinton and pass a transportation plan that gives states (and cities) the option of charging tolls along the interstate. However, the tolls should be used for reducing congestion and paying for maintenance, not for more pork-barrel construction.

Tolls should replace the federal gasoline tax, not be levied alongside it.

Today most large cities in the United States suffer from serious congestion problems. The principal cause of the congestion is that it doesn't cost a driver anything to get on a public freeway.

Most Californians view this as a right and appear content to line up to use the highways. Even with the time delays associated with rush-hour traffic, studies show that driving alone in your car to work or to shop is the fastest and cheapest mode of transportation.

The estimated cost from these delays in Los Angeles is $9 billion per year.

The only way to get people to change their behavior is to charge them to use the freeways.

The toll should reflect the fact that everyone's driving time increases when you enter the freeway during rush hour. To discourage rush-hour drives, the toll should be highest during rush hours and lower during off-peak hours. When driving a car solo during rush hour becomes more expensive, people will shift to alternatives like car pooling.

The federally funded Reduce Emissions and Congestion on Highways Task Force suggests congested cities charge a 10-cents-per-mile toll during rush hour and 5 cents per mile at other times.

The task force predicts a 22 percent increase in vehicle speed as a result of less solo driving, more car pooling and greater use of public transportation.

Tolls are already used to reduce congestion in France, Singapore and Norway.

Under current federal law, we cannot charge a toll on the 405 Freeway. If a modified Clinton proposal were the law, California could choose to charge tolls along highly congested routes.

Furthermore, scanner technology permits collecting highway fees without old-fashion tollbooths. It is possible to detect both time and distance traveled on the freeway with this technology.

Drivers can be billed monthly or have funds automatically withdrawn from an account established for just this purpose.

This technology is already in use on private Orange County toll roads.

It is time to face transportation reality.

Attempts to promote car pools by dedicating lanes and advertising the joys of car pooling do not work. Internally, even Caltrans officials admit that car-pool lanes do not significantly improve traffic flows.

Without financial incentives, we cannot discourage rush-hour use of our highways.

The alternative - continued expansion of the fixed-rail train system - is very costly. Construction companies become wealthier, and taxpayers end up footing the bill.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority estimates that rail trips cost between $30 and $60 per rider per day, requiring massive government subsidies.

Congress should support Clinton's proposal to allow states (and cities) to charge tolls on interstate highways.

The price the president must pay to get his transportation plan through Congress should be to reduce or repeal the federal gasoline tax and to target the toll at congestion problems in cities.

With changes like these, maybe we can cut our commute time to work.