Battling Gridlock: Congestion Fees Are Working in Europe and Asia, but It's Questionable If They Will Succeed in Car-Crazy North America

Carnevale, Rebecca, Crawford, E. A., Alternatives Journal

WITH TRAFFIC gridlock causing enormous monetary losses, cities around the world are choosing to use economic instruments to ease congestion. Congestion fees, as they have come to be known, involve assigning a price to a road based on the demand for using that road. The fees are generally set to discourage use rather than raise revenue, though they do the latter as well.

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Congestion fees are not a new phenomenon. Singapore implemented its effective congestion charge over 30 years ago, but the success of different schemes has been mixed and what works in one jurisdiction may not succeed in another.

In 2003, London, England, introduced a straight-forward congestion fee that only applied to weekday drivers. The pricing structure did not vary depending on vehicle type, distance travelled or time of day. When it was first implemented, proponents cheered as London's fee caused an impressive 30-per-cent drop …

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Publication information: Article title: Battling Gridlock: Congestion Fees Are Working in Europe and Asia, but It's Questionable If They Will Succeed in Car-Crazy North America. Contributors: Carnevale, Rebecca - Author, Crawford, E. A. - Author. Magazine title: Alternatives Journal. Volume: 34. Issue: 5-6 Publication date: November-December 2008. Page number: 20+. © 1998 Alternatives, Inc. COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale Group.

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