Road Pricing in Europe
The UK Dept. of Transport is launching a road pricing experiment with 400 volunteers from Leicester. Each will be given a "smart card" worth £300 to spend on transportation during a fixed period. If they drive into the crowded city center, various amounts will be deducted at electronic tolling points -- more during peak periods, and perhaps even more if pollution levels are high. If the volunteers take the train, the charge is less, and savings are retained by the individual. The test is part of the European Commission's Eurotoll program and is designed to find out how high driving charges have to be to induce a shift to other transportation modes. A similar trial in Stuttgart last year found that variable tolls did affect time-of-day traffic flows. The study was less conclusive with regard to mode shift. A DM4 ($2.60) charge resulted in 5% of weekday and 10% of weekend car trips being abandoned (the tolls were doubled for peak use, which accounted for a major shift in travelling times). Economist
