Four US states have been allocated $6m to study traffic congestion relief methods as part of a national programme.

California, Minnesota, New York and Washington will receive these funds under Federal Highway Administration’s Value Pricing Pilot Programme.

This programme is aimed at achieving a safe, accountable, flexible and efficient transport network across the US.

The pricing element of the pilot programme will study the varying toll levels by time of day or traffic volume and how effective they are at managing congestion.

Plans are to implement roadway pricing on the SR 237 Express Connectors, in San Francisco’s Bay area, to relieve the congestion on the gateway into Silicon Valley.

Minnesota’s Twin Cities and Washington’s Puget Sound will use the funds to study the various benefits of pricing on major highways.

New York will advance a truck pricing system to cut traffic at the I-90/I-290 interchange east of Buffalo where commercial trucks account for one in four vehicles.

In total, the programme will support more than 70 projects in 14 states, assessing pricing strategies across a decade.