It is now more than 50 years since the publication of the UK Smeed Report, a seminal work that first proposed road pricing as practical policy for dealing with congested roads. This chapter is a review of what has happened since and what road pricing has to offer in the future. Although much of the material is UK-centric, the lessons apply world-wide.

Chapter Contents:

• 2.1 Introduction
• 2.1.1 The economists versus the rest
• 2.1.2 Unintended consequences of under-pricing
• 2.2 What's new?
• 2.2.1 Forecasts of road congestion
• 2.2.2 The shortage of capital and the national debt
• 2.2.3 Decarbonising and tax yields
• 2.2.4 Air quality
• 2.2.5 Cost of technology
• 2.3 Misunderstandings
• 2.3.1 Privatisation
• 2.3.2 Fuel duty is a better mechanism?
• 2.3.3 Road tolls 'do not work' in England
• 2.3.4 Road charging is only about congestion or only about raising money
• 2.4 Reactions to past UK proposals
• 2.4.1 The Smeed report
• 2.4.2 The London congestion charge
• 2.4.3 The 2004 road pricing feasibility study
• 2.4.4 The 2006 Eddington Transport review
• 2.4.5 The 2010 coalition government roads policy review
• 2.5 Charges to replace existing taxes
• 2.6 Fairness
• 2.6.1 Equity and revenue-neutral, fully efficient pricing
• 2.6.2 Road pricing and household income
• 2.7 Governance is the key
• 2.7.1 A ring fenced fund
• 2.8 Conclusions
• 2.8.1 One problem or five?
• 2.8.2 Lessons from experience
• 2.8.3 What next in England?
• References

Inspec keywords: road traffic; road pricing (tolls)

Other keywords: road pricing; UK Smeed Report; congested roads

Subjects: Systems theory applications in transportation