ROAD USER CHARGES. SOME PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

While a number of proposals for applying road user charges have been considered by analysts and policy makers, little unanimity currently exists on the most appropriate scheme. Much of the difficulty stems from the fact that transportation systems interact in a complex manner with many facets of urban life, and any particular scheme of user charges is likely to have some undesirable impacts which will make it difficult to implement. This paper reviews past experience with road user charges, principally automobile tolls, and estimates the changes in traveler behavior which are likely to result from use of congestion tolls. It concludes with some general observations on how congestion pricing policies might be made more palatable politically.

• Corporate Authors:

  Urban Institute

  2100 M Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20037

  National Science Foundation

  Research Applied to National Needs
  Washington, DC  United States  20550
• Authors:
  • Kirby, R
• Publication Date: 1974-3

Media Info

• Pagination: 27 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobiles; Highway transportation; Impacts; Policy; Prices; Roads; Toll bridges; Toll roads; Toll tunnels; Traffic congestion; Travel patterns; Urban transportation; User charges
• Subject Areas: Economics; Finance; Highways; Policy; Public Transportation; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00093683
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: UI-1212-5, NSF/RA/S-74/039
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 4 1981 12:00AM