The Politics of Congestion Pricing

Political and Public Acceptability of Congestion Pricing: Ideology and Self-Interest in Sweden (7 page pdf, Björn Hårsman and John M. Quigley, Access Vol. 38, University of California, Spring 2011)

Stockholm is famous in road pricing circles for having the world’s first congestion charging system approved through a plebiscite. Why this is so is the focus of today’s review article which examines the link to political party preference and the value of the charge as a function of where the location and trip length of the voting public. The results seem to indicate that the larger the congestion zone and the number of people who could benefit, the more likely is its acceptance.



Key Quotes:

“voters who resided inside the cordon were more likely to favor the toll system. Not only did these residents, on average, face lower costs (that is, no toll charges) if they commuted to the central core, but their homes and neighborhoods also benefited from the reduced traffic within the cordon”

“better educated voters and working-age voters tended to favor the tolls, while male workers and immigrants tended to oppose them”

“Voters in traffic zones where the average time savings were higher were more likely to support the congestion charge In contrast, voters in zones where the average cost of a trip rose the most were less likely to support congestion charging. And voters who lived in zones within the tolling area were more likely to favor the congestion tolls.”

“the transit share of a zone’s commuters appears to explain none of the variation in voting outcomes”

“a 10 percent decrease in commute time could increase the propensity to favor the tolling system by an average of 2 percentage points. A 10 percent increase in the incremental costs of commuting, by contrast, is associated with a decline of 4 percent in the approval rate of congestion tolls.. one hour of travel time saving is valued at between 53 and 69 SEK”

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• Congestion charge 'would fail' (autonetinsurance.co.uk)
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• VW avoids congestion fee (confused.com)