Pesto- congestion pricing, such as that being tried on thet 10 and 110 in Los Angeles works because drivers have differing elasticities of demand. The untolled lanes will remain congested and drivers who have a high value of time will have the option of using the relatively free-flowing carpool lanes. The cost of driving in these lanes will rise until the flow of traffic reaches a certain desired speed, by pricing those drivers with a lower value of time out into the more congested untolled lanes. For example, if someone is late for a meeting, they would be willing to pay the higher toll for the ability to travel 45 mph. Not all drivers have the same value of time constantly, however. The same driver willing to pay the high amount might be willing to wait in traffic when traveling to a recreational activity or running errands on his/her day off.
Cities such as Stockholm that have used congestion pricing successfully use the money collected from the tolls to invest in increased transit service, thereby improving travel times on the remaining untolled lanes and also giving those motorists who do not wish to pay the tolls an alternative to traveling by private vehicle.
For a more complete analysis of the economics of congestion pricing, you should read "The Value of Value Pricing," by Kenneth Small in the Spring 2001 issue of Access magazine (
http://www.uctc.net/access/access18lighter.pdf )
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