Road Pricing The Economy And The Environment

Economic growth and globalisation create traffic growth, leading to congestion, which again increases travel times and costs. Road pricing is an instrument that may efficiently reduce the negative impacts. This volume is a collection of research papers on the use of road pricing. The focus is on passenger transport, and the papers cover a wide range of approaches, including theoretical modelling and empirical studies of road pricing experience from different cities.

Examines the regulation of road traffic congestion in theory and practice, within the context of social and political feasibility. Looks at Pigouvian taxes, the most popular policy prescription among economists, and considers a variety of other policies which may be more politically and socially acceptable. Other subjects discussed include congestion and urban development, congestion pricing and road infrastructure investment, and road pricing and urban sustainability. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Title first published in 2003. As more and more cities consider introducing urban road pricing schemes, this book describes, compares and contrasts arguments for and against using this transport policy instrument. It investigates the acceptability of various forms of road pricing schemes by examining and contextualising actual schemes and hypothetical scenarios. The resulting analysis provides a sociological theory of acceptability, carefully grounded in arguments about road pricing, which demonstrates how professional discourses diverge from publicly acceptable arguments. It also suggests ways in which consensus can be reached between the various road pricing options.

An Institutional Analysis Across Economic Sec. Road pricing is the name given to a variety of systems which charge road users a fee to mitigate the social costs of using their vehicles. The charges can be introduced to alleviate the costs of delays caused by congestion, environmental problems and the

Road pricing (tolls, etc.) as a means of generating revenue for infrastructure investment has become a major policy option in both Europe and North America. It can also be used as a policy in the management of traffic demand and flow, environmental objectives, and optimal resource allocation as regards the size of investments. Road pricing is assumed to be able to solve many problems simultaneously -- congestion control, pollution reduction, and investment financing. This volume assembles and assesses theoretical knowledge, empirical results and experiences of actual road pricing. In addition, the impact of new information technology on future policy formulation is considered.

Modern transportation systems have far-reaching, and serious consequences: deaths and injuries from accidents, pollution of air, water and groundwater, noise congestion, and the greenhouse effect. As world transport systems expand and become increasingly motorised, the transportation community is searching for systems that are both efficient and sustainable. Here, leading international researchers explore the issues and concepts and define the state of knowledge concerning the full costs and benefits of transportation.

This book illustrates that decoupling the environmental impacts of transport from economic growth is achievable, through the efficient use of charges, fees, taxes and other economic instruments.

TRB Conference Proceedings 34: International Perspectives on Road Pricing is the proceedings of the International Symposium on Road Pricing held on November 19-22, 2003, in Key Biscayne, Florida. The event was a collaborative effort of TRB, the Florida Department of Transportation, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the federal Highway Administration. The report includes two commissioned resource papers that examine the evolution of congestion pricing and the state of the practice in road pricing outside the United States. The proceedings also explore pricing successes and the challenges that have accompanied specific projects' implementation, as well as the potential evolution of road pricing in the future.

. . . this book is an interesting collection of papers on the topic of road congestion pricing. . . The reader should find this collection to be both interesting and informative, but also quite thought-provoking. . . The papers also provide some very useful information about projects that have not worked or have not been implemented for various reasons and lessons that can be learnt from failures to implement and failures of pricing schemes. Peter R. Stopher, International Planning Studies In February 2003, the London Congestion Charging Scheme was introduced and in 2006 a similar policy was introduced in Stockholm. In both cases automobile traffic entering the cordon declined by about 20 percent. This book evaluates these and other similar programs exploring their implications for the United States. While there is increasing interest in road pricing in the US in many individual states, the motivation is often highway financing rather than congestion relief. The contributors argue that the prospects for extensive implementation in the US remain uncertain. Nevertheless, this book illustrates that the European experience suggests political feasibility is much less of a hurdle than was once considered and that congestion pricing would have a significant impact in reducing traffic as it did in Europe. This study s value lies in the fact that it examines road pricing in the real world and not simply from a theoretical viewpoint. As a comparative study it will appeal to both policymakers and academics in transportation economics and planning, urban economics, planning and economic geography.