Why are City Politicians Nervous when Congestion Charging Comes Up?

The political calculus of congestion pricing: credible commitments, hostages and opportunities for implementation (33 page pdf, David A. King, Transport Futures Mobility Pricing Conference, Feb, 2011)

The reason why congestion charging is seen as political suicide is the focus for today’s post based on a survey of municipal politicians and urban planners in Los Angeles.  Among the reasons for objections is a feeling of mistrust between the municipality and state on sharing revenue as well as the feeling that congestion on city streets comes mainly from freeways that cross cities and not from conditions on the streets themselves, and notably the lack of confidence on where congestion charging revenue would be spent. That confidence can be built by emulating London’s example of improving public transit before implementing tolls.

To see Key Quotes and Links to key reports about this post, click HERE