Also discussed here: New technologies enable innovative tolling (5 page pdf, Toll Collect ASECAP Days Oslo 2010)
And here: Stockholm’s Congestion Pricing Trial (Pollution Free Cities, May 6, 2010)
In today’s review, Bern Grush (founder of Skymeter, Canada’s leading GPS road pricing company), takes a look at the differences between the tax and revenue oriented approaches (largely unsuccessfully in terms of driver acceptance/enthusiasm) with the approach his company advocates- adding value for drivers. Instead of begrudgingly paying an extra cost to commute, drivers are offered a guaranteed maximum commute time and ease of access. Such an approach is a necessity in our tax sensitive society in order to bring improvements not only to traffic flow but to pay for maintaining the roads we drive on- which more and more is becoming unsustainable in city budgets, but also to improve the quality of air in downtowns - which cities such as Stockholm or Singapore that employ modern tolling systems have realized. In short, a convenience fee not a road toll.
Key Quotes:
“Who wants the maraschino cherry, if someone else gets the cake?”
“a new approach, in which the paradigm of tax-centricity is replaced by one of service centricity.”
Related articles
- Congestion and Road Pricing in Canada (pollutionfree.wordpress.com)
- Paying for Roads and Pricing Transportation (pollutionfree.wordpress.com)
- Should motorists pay for the congestion they cause? (theage.com.au)
- What Comes Next after Parking Meters (pollutionfree.wordpress.com)
- Road Pricing Still the Big Missing Piece in MTA Funding Puzzle (streetsblog.org)
- Feature: We know where you've been: privacy, congestion tracking, and the future (arstechnica.com)
- Congestion is Welfare Reducing (seattletransitblog.com)
- Public Finance Debts Lead to Reduced Public Transit Service: The Case of Caltrain (jamblemag.com)
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