CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING Drawing by Ruairi O Brien CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING

topics Where are we now? What’s road user charging (RUC)? Why apply RUC? Economic theory What are we trying to achieve with RUC? How does RUC achieve it? Some examples – Singapore, Trondheim, London, Stockholm, Italy, Znojmo How to implement RUC – maximising the chances Generating RUC options for your own town/city

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING Where are we now? long delays due to congestion economic lost (time, energy) air pollution and noise cause health damage shortage of parking place unpleasant street environment-cities severance of social networks SO… NO for increasing capacity by building new roads-due to induce traffic- long been out of transport policy agenda YES for balance-travel/traffic demand management

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING What’s RUC? Simply: charging drivers for their road use/driving Aren’t they charged enough? purchase tax, road taxes, compulsory insurance, petrol tax, etc. NO Marginal cost of driving? Supermarket parallel!

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING Economic theory suggests the cost borne by the user of roads should reflects the sum of the marginal costs they impose on: infrastructure provider cost for operation and road damage other road users cost for congestion, risk of accidents outside transport system cost for accident externalities and environmental damage RUC adds these marginal costs onto real cost of driving - drivers take more economically rational travel decisions - traffic volumes reduce

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING What do we achieve? reduced congestion- faster car and public transport journeys, safer cycling and walking,…... reduced environmental pollution- breathable air, quieter streets, less green house effect,…... revenue - provides frequent, reliable, comfortable public transport, better cycling/ walking environment, better roads, safety measures, …...

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING Acceptability It’s a problem! - huge political sensitivity Novelty Not wanting to pay for what’s been free before Equity issues Conventional measures - more popular But acceptability increases if cash spent on transport and environment

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING Has it been tried somewhere? Singapore Area Licence Scheme in 1975 Bergen Cordon Crossing in 1986 Oslo Cordon Crossing in 1990 Trondheim Cordon Crossing in 1991 Singapore Electronic Road Pricing -combination of cordon crossing and point crossing scheme in 1998 London Area License Scheme 2003 (to be extended 2006) Stockholm cordon crossing 2006 Major Italian cities – area licences

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING What is an RUC scheme like? Principles of charging Area licence Cordon Distance/speed based Charge and time of charging Who is charged; and exemptions For what is revenue used? Administration/technology - how it is operated Charging and billing Enforcement

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING Singapore: demand management ALS (1975) Rush hour traffic reduced by 45% traffic speeds increased by 20% accidents fell by 25% ERP (1998) Daily Traffic volumes reduced by 20-24% speeds from 40 to 45 kmh

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING Singapore- charging principles area: CBD-restricted zone and some expressways time: initially morning peak, later covered evening peak, thereafter included off- peak, EP operates during working hours including Saturday till 2 pm type: initially Area Licensing then inbound Cordon Crossing level of charge: $3 for a daily, $2 for off-peak licence, ERP - varies charging entity: vehicles variations: time of day, type of vehicle, location (ERP) Technology – on-board meter and smartcard, debited when vehicle passes charging point Charges varied every 3 months to keep traffic level of service at same level Enforcement – camera/ANPR

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING Trondheim: infrastructure investments Many new roads, such as new airport road, tunnels New bypass Cycling paths environmental measures improved public transport

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING Trondheim - charging principles Area: built area including airport road time: operates during working hours type: inbound Cordon Crossing level of charge: €3 for crossing charging entity: vehicles variations: time of day, type of vehicle, location (EP), maximum use per period

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING London scheme Plans for many years Legal basis London Government Act and 2000 Transport Act Area licence scheme for central area (21 km 2 ), intro Feb 2003 Up to 50,000 vehicles per hour into this area Planned to raise £130 million per year – in fact £70 million Revenues hypothecated for 10 years Exemptions - residents (90% discount) Many payment methods, ANPR and foot patrol enforcement

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING London Scheme area

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING London Scheme 2 Congestion inside zone reduced by 30% Traffic levels reduced by 18% 30% reduction in number of cars and 65,000 fewer car movements 20% increase in movements by buses coaches and taxis Increase of 29,000 bus passengers entering zone during morning peak Bus reliability and journey times improved - additional time passengers wait at bus stops caused by service delays or missing buses cut by 20% across all of London and by 30% in and around charging zone Some debate about retail impacts Little diversion of traffic around zone

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING Netherlands Urban cordons planned on major roads in Randstad 2.5 Euro charge would decrease peak traffic on motorways by 35% First step towards kilometer-heffing Four Randstad cities very unkeen (economic development) but bribed by Dutch Ministry of Transport Then a dead leader was elected and it all went down the drain, for now

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING Implementing RUC To maximise chances of RUC scheme being implemented, need: Agreement on objectives and that there is a problem to solve Political champion Resources – people and money (Preferably) only one decision making body Single implementing agency Ability to improve alternatives (widely) before pricing implemented Straightforward and supportive enabling legislation Effective marketing/communication strategy, from the start

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING Conclusion Road pricing - can it ever be acceptable? Norway, Durham, London show it can be Key elements in success: Perception of problem Business community support Political consensus OR champion (e.g. Ken) Simple scheme, at least to start with Hypothecation of revenues Obvious up-front investment in alternatives

CONGESTION CHARGING AND PRICING Useful references Following papers by Begg (nice pictures) Chin (Singapore) Baker (acceptability) Can all be downloaded