A Georgia Tech team, led by Dr. Catherine Ross, Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development (CQGRD), and Dr. Randall Guensler, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Transportation Group, is undertaking a research effort funded by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to help answer these questions. The project will provide a comprehensive examination of public perceptions and preferences regarding pricing options in metropolitan Atlanta.

Results of the project will help guide GDOT and the State Road and Tollway Authority of Georgia (SRTA) in the siting, evaluation, and implementation of future pricing strategies. The study will include a review of newly introduced toll collection technologies and case study analyses of similar projects in other states and abroad. The work will be supplemented by interviews with transportation experts who have first-hand experience with developing and implementing congestion-pricing programs. The team will also determine local preferences through a series of focus groups.

The project will result in strategies to implement congestion pricing in metropolitan Atlanta and an emissions modeling assessment framework to aide in predicting and monitoring the impacts of congestion pricing.