The Next Congestion Charge System for New York City?

New York congestion pricing 2012 version  (Road pricing, Mar. 12, 2012) Also discussed here: Details of Sam Schwartz’s “Fair Plan” and Other Orcutt+Komanoff Highlights  (Ben Fried, Streetsblog, Mar. 7,2012) And here: The mother of all traffic plans hits NYC (Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business, Mar. 21, 2012) Today we review an interesting proposal to [...]

What are the Economics of Road Pricing and Congestion?

Does Traffic Congestion Reduce Employment Growth? (33 page pdf, Kent Hymely, Journal of Urban Economics, Sept. 17, 2008) Also discussed here: Congestion’s Impact on Urban Economies (Surface Transportation Innovations #101, Reason Foundation, March 2012) Today, we review a paper that examines what economic benefits result from the application of road tolls or congestion charges on [...]

Road Pricing in the USA

Road Pricing Can Help Reduce Congestion, but Equity Concerns May Grow (60 page pdf, United States Government Accountability Office, Jan 12, 2012 Also discussed here: Traffic Congestion- Road Pricing Can Help Reduce Congestion, but Equity Concerns May Grow (GAO-12-119, Jan 12, 2012) And here: GAO Highlights (United States Government Accountability Office, Jan. 2012) Today, the [...]

Is Traffic Congestion the Main Cause of Car Accidents?

Go Figure: Are country roads more dangerous than city roads? (Michael Blastland, BBC News magazine, Jan. 19, 2012) Also discussed here: Roads vs. Streets: Wherein the greater danger? (World Streets, Jan. 19, 2012) A near fatal accident close to my home recently triggered the review of today’s post  which examines the links between  traffic accidents  [...]

Intensification, Traffic Congestion and Air Pollution

Public Health and Downtown Traffic (Marcus Bowman , Spacing Toronto, Jul. 21, 2011) Also discussed here: Ottawa’s clogged roads near capacity (Open File Ottawa, Nov. 18, 2010) And here: Queue Interactions in Synchro 6 (12 page Word doc,  Synchro 6) Today, we focus on some articles that describe how congested cities, such as Toronto and [...]

Better Ways to Handle Traffic and Parking

Traffic, Parking, and Our Green Future: Segment 1 (Parking) (28 min video, Donald Shoup, Yale University, Feb. 17, 2010) Traffic, Parking, and Our Green Future: Segment 2 (Traffic) (33 min video, Tom Vanderbilt, Yale University, Feb. 17, 2010) Traffic, Parking, and Our Green Future: Segment 3 (Questions) (27 min video, Professor Doug Rae, Feb. 17, [...]

Air pollution and congestion charges in London, England

Pay as you go: managing traffic impacts in a world-class city (55 page pdf, John Whitelegg, Eco-Logica Ltd, Lancaster, Dec. 2, 2011)     The report reviewed today looks back at almost a decade of experience with London’s congestion charge system and analyses the reasons for its success as well as its weaknesses. Several interesting [...]

Lessons Learned from Stockholm’s Congestion Charges

The Stockholm congestion charges – lessons after 5 years  (18 page pdf, Börjesson, M; Eliasson, J; Beser Hugosson, M; Brundell-Freij, K., Centre for Transport Studies, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Dec. 2011) An excellent analysis of the social, economic and political aspects of the Stockholm congestion charges is the focus of today’s review. The report [...]

Making Paris Mobile in a Cleaner Environment

The greening of Paris ( Manisha Gutman, The Hindu,Feb. 3, 2008) Paris received an award recently for its Mobility Plan which was aimed at replacing its car culture with other and less polluting forms of transportation, including innovative bicycle and car sharing schemes, extensive information communication systems making known the availability of the alternatives and [...]

Does Canada’s Largest City Want Congestion Charges?

Torontonians Open to Congestion Charge to Fund Transportation System  (8 page pdf, Angus Reid Public Opinion, Nov. 6, 2011) The answer to the question posed today seems to be yes, judging from a poll taken recently in Toronto which interestingly also found a dislike for tolls or taxes aimed at drivers. The time to travel [...]

Traffic Accidents and Optimum Congestion Charges

Traffic Congestion and Accidents(26 page pdf, Andrea Schrage, University of Regensburg Working Papers in Business, Economics and Management Information Systems, Nov.9, 2006) The report reviewed today looks at the calculation of optimum congestion charging with the cost of accidents included in that calculation. To do that the author considered the timing of the accident (earlier [...]

How to Cure Congestion: more roads, more public transit, or congestion pricing?

The Fundamental Law of Road Congestion: Evidence from US Cities  ( Abstract, Gilles Duranton and Matthew A. Turner, American Economic Review, Oct. 2011) Yet another paper is reviewed today from an economic viewpoint, concluding that congestion pricing is the only way to reduce congestion. Not even more public transit offers relief. Where pricing has been [...]

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.  [...]

The opposite of congestion pricing – and it works

Unclogging roads by offering a reward (Road Pricing, Oct. 3, 2011) Also discussed here: Spitscoren (English translation – how it works) The carrot works more than the stick, so the saying goes. Today’s review article comes from Rotterdam in Holland where a system based on rewarding off peak use, instead of a congestion charge, has achieved [...]

Congestion Pricing and Land-Use Planning

Congestion Pricing Works Best When Partnered With Land-Use Planning (ScienceDaily, Sep. 23, 2011) Today, an interesting paper is reviewed that concludes that congestion pricing is more effective in discouraging car trips when combined with land use planning that makes it easier for people to take transit. The road to improved air quality, as a result [...]

Seattle’s Road Pricing Pilot Project

Traffic Choices Study: Summary Report – A Global Positioning System Based Pricing Pilot Project: Evaluating Traveler Response to Variable Road Tolling Through a Sample of Volunteer Participants (40 page pdf, Puget Sound Regional Council, Seattle, 2008) Today’s focus is a summary report of a study completed 3 years ago aimed at assessing the feasibility of [...]

Does Building More Roads Cure or Cause More Congestion?

The Fundamental Law of Road Congestion: Evidence from US Cities (Forthcoming, Duranton, Gilles and Turner, Matthew A., American Economic Review, Feb. 2011) The article under review today confirms (with extensive evidence and analysis) what many of those who study traffic and road use already believed: that building roads does not relieve congestion, it adds to [...]

Review of Road Pricing Around the World

Acceptability of road pricing (152 page pdf, John Walker, Royal Automobile Association Foundation , May 2011) The report reviewed today comes from the UK with the world’s first successful congestion pricing program in 2002, but after voters rejected road pricing in two cities more recently. It analyses what the public are looking for- essentially fair [...]

Did London’s Congestion Charging Scheme Improve Its Air Quality?

The Impact of the Congestion Charging Scheme on Air Quality in London: Part 1. Emissions Modeling and Analysis of Air Pollution Measurements (121 page pdf, Frank, Kelly H., Ross Anderson, Ben Armstrong, Richard Atkinson, Ben Barratt, Sean Beevers, Dick Derwent, David Green, Ian Mudway, and Paul Wilkinson , Research Report 155, Health Effects Institute Apr.26, [...]

Analysing Transportation Options in New York City

Meet the BTA (35 page pdf slideshow, Jul. 22, 2009)   Today’s review is of a sophisticated spreadsheet developed by Charles Komanoff to model the impact of various congestion pricing schemes in New York City with time varying rates on such outputs as revenue gains and losses (as shown below), impact on traffic volumes, vehicle [...]

Some Truths about Congestion and the Case for Congestion Pricing

Congestion is Welfare Reducing (Andrew Smith, Seattle Transit Blog, Feb. 22, 2011)   The article reviewed today in simple terms makes the case for road tolls as likely the only sustainable way to reduce congestion – which in the U.S. cost 4.8 billion hours in time wasted in the year 2010. It all comes down [...]

Impact of London Congestion Charge Scheme on Air Pollution

The impact of the congestion charging scheme on ambient air pollution concentrations in London (21 page pdf, R.W. Atkinson, B. Barratt, B. Armstrong, H.R. Anderson, S.D. Beevers, I.S. Mudway, D. Green, R.G. Derwent, P. Wilkinson, C. Tonne, F.J. Kelly, Atmospheric Environment, Volume 43, Issue 34, Pages 5493-5500, Nov, 2009) Today’s reviewed report is a land [...]

Road Pricing to Add Value not (just) Revenue

European vs American Road Pricing view (Grush Hour, Feb. 11, 2011) 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 [...]

How to Price a Road

Thanks to GrushHour for this video about road pricing

What do Cars Cost Society?

Taking the Con Out of Convenience: The True Cost of Transport Modes in Sydney (21 page pdf, Urban Policy and Research, Vol. 27, No. 1, 5–24, March 2009) Also discussed here: What costs society more – cars or public transport? (The Melbourne Urbanist, Nov. 24, 2010) And here: What Does a Car Really Cost? (Pollution [...]

What Comes Next after Parking Meters

Time Expired – The end of the parking meter (Slate, Oct. 19, 2010) Also discussed here: Prize-winning innovators Skymeter could revolutionize parking — and eliminate traffic (YongeStreet,  Jun. 2, 2010) And here: Skymeter And here: Who pays for free parking? (Pollution Free Cities Aug. 23, 2010) Congestion and air fouled by emissions from traffic on [...]

London’s Air Quality Strategy

Image via Wikipedia Clearing the air – The Mayor’s draft air quality strategy for public consultation (131 page pdf, Greater London Authority, March 2010) Also discussed here: Air Quality (City of London) And here: The Mayor’s backwards steps have left me with no confidence (MayorWatch, Nov. 26, 2010) And here: London’s Cycle Superhighways (Pollution Free [...]

The Case for Free Public Transit

Image via Wikipedia Should All Public Transit Be Free? (Big Think- Think Tank, Oct. 1, 2010) Also discussed here: Wellbeing Lower Among Workers With Long Commutes (Gallup, Oct. 1, 2010) And here: “fare-free would “create a tipping point toward more people using public transportation” (Free Public Transit-The beginning of the end of autosprawl, Oct. 1, [...]

Designing Streets for People not just for Cars

Journal of World Transport Policy and Practice(72 page pdf, Volume 16. Number 1, May 2010) Also discussed here: World Transport Policy & Practice – Vol. 16, No. 2(World /Streets, Aug. 31, 2010) And here: Manual for Streets(146 page pdf, UK Dept. of Transport, 2010) And here: Byward Market Pedestrian Area(Pollution Free Cities, Oct.2, 2009) As [...]

Minimum Parking Requirements

Do Parking Requirements Significantly Increase The Area Dedicated To Parking? A Test Of The Effect Of Parking Requirements Values In Los Angeles County (37 pages pdf, unpublished, Sofia Franco, University of Munich, Jan. 25, 2010) Also discussed here: New Evidence Links Sprawl to Parking Minimums (Streetsblog, Aug. 23, 2010) And here: New Evidence Links Sprawl [...]

Who pays for free parking?

Free Parking Comes at a Price (New York Times, Aug. 14, 2010) Also discussed here: San Francisco rolls out new smart parking meters with ‘demand-responsive pricing’ (Engadget, Aug. 7, 2010) And here: Parking Spaces and Toilet Stalls And here: Parking Strategies and Traffic Congestion Today’s article reviews the cost imposed by many cities on those [...]

The Canadian Case for Congestion Pricing

Image by Getty Images via @daylife Winning the battle with traffic congestion – The benefits of accurate transport pricing (15 page pdf, Frontier Centre for Public Policy, Policy Series No. 94, August 2010) Also discussed here: Congestion Pricing: The View from Canada (Human Transit, Aug. 11, 2010) Today’s report is one of a handful that [...]

CO2 Emissions from Transportation Projects

Image via Wikipedia Reducing Carbon Emissions from Transport Projects (107 page pdf, Asian Development Bank,  July 2010) By the careful use of energy intensity models, this report quantified the amount of CO2 reductions that may be achieved through various scenarios or options in transportation projects, such as congestion pricing and by reductions possible from various [...]

Competing for Mobility with the Private Automobile

Under-appreciated and neglected urban transport policy opportunities (and reframing competition in urban transport) (34 slides, 2009) Also discussed here: Should we (can we?) make our cars dispensible? (Reinventing Urban Transport, Sep. 4, 2008) And here: “Metered Access” to Cars – could this become the norm? (Reinventing Urban Transport, Apr. 29, 2008) And here: Let’s give [...]

Transit, Road Pricing and Congestion

Image via Wikipedia What Does Transit Do About Traffic Congestion? (updated-Human Transit, July 30, 2010) Also discussed here: The Triple Convergence (Walkable Streets) And here: The anti-transit shell game (Cap’n Transit Rides Again, Dec.15, 2009) And here: The “Transit Isn’t Green Because It Runs Empty” Line (Human Transit, Dec. 15,2009) A thoughtful article today about [...]

Congestion Pricing in Chicago

Congestion Pricing Coming to Chicago? (The City Fix, July 14, 2010) Also discussed here: The Road Less Traveled: Exploring Congestion Pricing in Chicagoland (20 page pdf, Illinois Tollway,  Metropolitan Planning Council, July 10, 2010) And here: To cut gridlock, drivers should pay for fast lane, new study says (Chicago Tribune, July 14, 2010) And here: [...]

Road Charging in Britain

Image via Wikipedia Governing and Paying for England’s Roads (100 pages, Royal Automobile Club Foundation for Motoring Limited, July 2010) Also discussed here: Is road pricing inevitable? (Fleet Voice Column, July 7, 2010) The report reviewed today, written by the association representing British car drivers, establishes key issues for curbing road traffic demand and, after [...]

Commuting Pains

The Globalization of Traffic Congestion: IBM 2010 Commuter Pain Survey (6 page pdf, IBM, June 30,2010) Also discussed here: IBM Global Commuter Pain Study Reveals Traffic Crisis in Key International Cities (IBM Pres Release, June 30, 2010) And here: You Only Think Your Commute Sucks (Wired-Autopia, June 30, 2010) How much commuters will put up [...]

Changing Driving Behaviour with Prices and Persuasion

Individual Behaviour Change: Evidence in transport and public health (30 page pdf, Centre for Transport and Society, University of the West of England, Nov. 2009) A key aspect of reducing the health impacts from emissions from private  vehicles is to focus on changing the behaviour of their drivers so that the drive less or at [...]

Optimizing Congestion Charges in NYC

Image via Wikipedia The Man Who Could Unsnarl Manhattan Traffic (WIRED, May 24, 2010) Once a city decides to apply congestion charging, some of  the first questions are what area to select and what boundaries to establish for charges, what  rate or rates to apply and for what periods. This article describes the work of [...]

Environmental Commissioner for Ontario and Road Pricing

Image via Wikipedia Broadening Ontario’s Climate Change Policy Agenda – Annual Greenhouse Gas Progress Report 2010 (40 page pdf, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, May 31, 2010) The call by the Environmental Commissioner for Ontario for road pricing as a mechanism to reduce greenhouse gas emissions comes at a time when others are looking for tolls [...]

Using Road Tolls to pay for Transit in Canada’s Largest City

Image via Wikipedia The Move Ahead: Funding “The Big Move” (28 page pdf, Toronto Board of Trade, May 19,2010) Also discussed here: Road tolls one of 16 ideas to pay for transit (Toronto Star, May 29, 2010) And here (referring to a report from the Environmental Commissioner for Ontario): Report suggests road tolls to fight [...]

Lessons Learned from New York City’s Congestion Pricing Experience

Image via Wikipedia New York City’s Congestion Pricing Experience and Implications for Road Pricing Acceptance in the United States (18 page pdf, Transport Policy, August 2010) New York City’s congestion pricing experiment failed to achieve legislative approval at the state level despite local support but the process followed has many lessons for other cities with [...]

Stockholm’s Congestion Pricing Trial

Image via Wikipedia Facts and results from the Stockholm Trials (160 page pdf, Congestion Charge Secretariat, City of Stockholm, Dec. 2006) Also discussed here: Evaluation of Stockholm’s Congestion Pricing The Stockholm congestion charging trial- what happened? (38 page pdf, Expert Group Summary,  Congestion Charge Secretariat, City of Stockholm, Dec. 2006) And here: Effects On Air [...]

Congestion Pricing, Commuting Time and Happiness

Image via Wikipedia Another Reason for Congestion Pricing (Yglesias, Mar. 30, 2010) Also discussed here: Commuting (ScienceBlogs, Mar. 30, 2010) and here: The Sandra Bullock Trade (New York Times, Mar. 29,2010) Key Quotes: “The daily activities most associated with happiness are sex, socializing after work and having dinner with others. The daily activity most injurious [...]

Road Pricing Options for Australia

Moving People: Solutions for a growing Australia- key transport issues (81 page pdf, the Australasian Railway Association, the Bus Industry Confederation and the International Association of Public Transport–UITP, April 2010) Also discussed here: Moving People: Solutions for a growing Australia (World Streets, April 12, 2010) Australia shares many transportation and energy issues with Canada- and other [...]

Parking Strategies and Traffic Congestion

U.S. Parking Policies: An Overview of Management Strategies (86 page pdf, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, February, 23 2010) Also discussed here: Free Parking? Breaking Our Addiction to the Parking Lot (OpenAlex, Mar. 1, 2010) And here: San Francisco’s quest for the perfect price for parking (The Operations Room, July 29, 2010) Key Quotes: [...]

Car-Free Downtowns

The Pedestrianisation of Cities (This Big City, Feb. 15, 2010) Many cities are finding that the best to free the downtown areas of pollution is to get rd of the cars that cause the problem. New York City, leading the way in North America that many European cities began long ago, has just made Times [...]

Free Parking and Downtown Pollution

The New Colonist blog examines the need and consequences of municipal zoning laws calling for the provision of parking space for residences and businesses in this post “Fifty Years of Stupid Parking Tricks….” and refers to an earlier book review  Pave paradise? No, ditch the parking lot (written by Donald C. Shoup)from the New Urban [...]

“the degree to which the businesses are acting against their own self-interests”

Gary Mason,  a leading journalist from Canada’s greenest and 3rd largest city,  writes today on “Bring on taxes – if they spur transit“.  He explains how higher downtown parking rates help to reduce traffic and pollution downtown, as well as provide funds for a much more efficient and comfortable  alternative, rapid transit ( “the Canada [...]