20-06-2014, 12:51 PM
CONGESTION PRICING
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ABSTRACT
Congestion pricing—sometimes called value pricing— is a way of harnessing the power of the market to reduce the waste associated with traffic congestion. Congestion tolls can be implemented at scales ranging from individual lanes on single links to national road networks. Tolls can be differentiated by time of day, road type and vehicle characteristics, and even set in real time according to current traffic conditions. Conventional toll booths have largely given way to electronic toll collection technologies. The main technology categories are roadside-only systems employing digital photography, tag & beacon systems that use short-range microwave technology, and in-vehicle-only systems based on either satellite or cellular network communications. The best technology choice depends on the application. The rate at which congestion pricing is implemented, and its ultimate scope, will depend on what technology is used and on what other functions and services it can perform. This paper reviews the methods and technologies for congestion pricing of roads.
INTRODUCTION
Traffic congestion is common in large cities and on major highways and it imposes a significant burden in lost time, uncertainty, and aggravation for passenger and freight transport. Most of the costs of traffic congestion are borne by travelers collectively but, because individual travelers impose delays on others, they do not pay the full marginal social cost of their trips and therefore create a negative externality. The standard economic prescription to internalize the costs of a negative externality is a pigouvian tax. Congestion pricing has a big advantage over other transportation demand management policies in that it encourages travelers to adjust all aspects of their behavior, number of trips ,destination ,mode of transport, time of day, route and so on, as well as their long – run decisions on where to live , work and setup a business.
For decades congestion pricing remained largely an ivory – tower idea, but interest gradually spread out side academia and congestion pricing has come into limited practice. The main operating schemes are High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lane facilities in US, the London congestion charge, the stockholm cordon charge, and Singapore’s Electronic Road Pricing system, The main technology categories are roadside-only systems employing digital photography, tag & beacon systems that use short-range microwave technology, and in-vehicle-only systems based on either satellite or cellular network communications
CONGESTION PRICING
Congestion pricing—sometimes called value pricing— is a way of harnessing the power of the market to reduce the waste associated with traffic congestion. Congestion pricing works by shifting some less critical or more discretionary rush-hour highway travel to other transportation modes or to off-peak periods, taking advantage of the fact that the majority of rush-hour drivers on a typical urban highway are not commuters. By removing a fraction (even as small as 5%) of the vehicles from a congested roadway, pricing enables the system to flow much more efficiently, allowing more cars to move through the same physical space. Similar variable charges have been successfully utilized in other industries, for example, airline tickets, cell phone rates, and electricity rates. There is a consensus among economists that congestion pricing represents the single most viable and sustainable approach to reducing traffic congestion
METHODS OF CONGESTION PRICING
Types of congestion pricing schemes
Congestion pricing schemes can be classified in various ways. The four categories considered here are presented roughly in order of increasing scale
1 Facility based-schemes
For centuries tolls have been imposed on roads, bridges, and tunnels, and this is still the most common form of road pricing by far although tolls designed to price congestion have only been implemented on a few facilities. Tolls can be levied either on all lanes of a facility or on designated toll lanes as is done on HOT lane facilities. Tolls can also be levied either at a single point on a facility or at multiple points with the total amount paid determined by distance traveled
CONGESTION PRICING TECHNOLOGIES
A number of studies have reviewed the technologies currently or potentially used for distance-based road user charges and congestion pricing.
Functions to perform and types of systems
All congestion pricing systems must perform three basic functions: (1) measurement of road usage by identifying vehicles and recording their locations and/or the distance they have traveled as well as their characteristics such as number of axles that are relevant for determining charges, (2) communication of data for billing purposes, and (3) enforcement. With conventional systems that use toll booths vehicle detection and payment are done manually and access is controlled by physical
barriers. Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) systems perform the functions using various technologies. There are three types of ETC. systems
1. Roadside-only systems that use Automated Number Plate Recognition.
2. Dedicated Short Range Communications.
3. In-vehicle-only systems that rely either on satellites or cellular networks
Automated Number Plate Recognition
Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology uses digital cameras and optical character recognition (OCR) software to record an image of a vehicle and its license plate. ANPR is used standalone with roadside-only systems although this requires collecting and processing images for every vehicle. Highway 407 in Toronto is an example of an open-road tolling scheme that uses ANPR to record vehicle usage for billing purposes. ANPR is more commonly used for enforcement because only violators have to be processed and – unlike other technologies – ANPR does not require that vehicles have equipment in working condition
. Dedicated Short Range Communications
Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) is a means of Automated Vehicle Identification (AVI) and is a member of the class of tag & beacon systems. Antennas mounted on overhead gantries communicate with tags or transponders on vehicles as they pass by. Like ANPR, DSRC technology can be used for all three basic functions: road usage measurement, data communication, and enforcement. It can also be used in conjunction with on-board units (see vehicle equipment below) to operate a zonal tolling system by activating a vehicle’s on-board unit when it crosses into the zone, and deactivating it when the vehicle leaves the zone. DSRC technology operates in the radio frequency or microwave range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Some tolling systems communicate in the infrared range
. Cellular networks
Cellular networks are used by cellular phones. The most popular standard is Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications which uses Short Message Service (SMS). Cellular networks are within range of much of the roadway network and show promise as a means of road pricing although the application is not as well developed as it is for GPS. Like GPS, cellular networks do not require roadside infrastructure, and communications is possible anywhere rather than being restricted to gantries or locations where transponders have been installed. Cellular networks are also less susceptible to the urban canyon effect
A CASE STUDY ON CONGESTION PRICING CONCEPT IN CONNAUGHT PLACE, NEW DELHI, INDIA
Connaught place is the central business district (CBD) and an important trade and socio-cultural center of the city as shown in the Fig.1. Connaught place receives heavy volume of traffic throughout the day due to its strategic location. Chaotic traffic jams and acute parking shortfalls are also witnessed. This study looks into the effect of pricing on the traffic behavior in the case study area of Connaught Place. The objective of the study was to develop a mechanism of charging where the external costs are nullified by the revenue generation and leads to decrease in the traffic to an optimal level
CONCLUSION
Congestion pricing is an idea with a long academic pedigree that has gained credence amongst practitioners and policymakers. Yet congestion pricing in practice is still only a limited patchwork of schemes. Facility-based schemes dominate in North America. Europe has a few urban area-based congestion pricing schemes and a few intercity distance-based schemes for HGVs that are designed more for revenue generation and internalization of environmental costs than to control congestion. Several technologies are employed. The London and Stockholm designs use Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR). Singapore’s Electronic Road Pricing, most toll roads, HOT lanes in the US, and three heavy goods vehicles schemes in Europe use Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC). The German and Slovak Republic HGV systems use satellite technology. Cellular technology has not yet been implemented anywhere although it is promising. .
One general conclusion is that ANPR and DSRC are better suited for tolling individual facilities and urban areas where congestion is severe. Satellite and Cellular technologies appear to be more economical for pricing at larger geographical scales.
Satellite systems are already used to differentiate by type of road, number of axles, and emissions class, and they are capable of differentiating by time of day as well.
Arguments can be made for each option on the basis of various assessment criteria. Simplicity favors the low-tech option. The history of successes and failures with road
[attachment=65102]
ABSTRACT
Congestion pricing—sometimes called value pricing— is a way of harnessing the power of the market to reduce the waste associated with traffic congestion. Congestion tolls can be implemented at scales ranging from individual lanes on single links to national road networks. Tolls can be differentiated by time of day, road type and vehicle characteristics, and even set in real time according to current traffic conditions. Conventional toll booths have largely given way to electronic toll collection technologies. The main technology categories are roadside-only systems employing digital photography, tag & beacon systems that use short-range microwave technology, and in-vehicle-only systems based on either satellite or cellular network communications. The best technology choice depends on the application. The rate at which congestion pricing is implemented, and its ultimate scope, will depend on what technology is used and on what other functions and services it can perform. This paper reviews the methods and technologies for congestion pricing of roads.
INTRODUCTION
Traffic congestion is common in large cities and on major highways and it imposes a significant burden in lost time, uncertainty, and aggravation for passenger and freight transport. Most of the costs of traffic congestion are borne by travelers collectively but, because individual travelers impose delays on others, they do not pay the full marginal social cost of their trips and therefore create a negative externality. The standard economic prescription to internalize the costs of a negative externality is a pigouvian tax. Congestion pricing has a big advantage over other transportation demand management policies in that it encourages travelers to adjust all aspects of their behavior, number of trips ,destination ,mode of transport, time of day, route and so on, as well as their long – run decisions on where to live , work and setup a business.
For decades congestion pricing remained largely an ivory – tower idea, but interest gradually spread out side academia and congestion pricing has come into limited practice. The main operating schemes are High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lane facilities in US, the London congestion charge, the stockholm cordon charge, and Singapore’s Electronic Road Pricing system, The main technology categories are roadside-only systems employing digital photography, tag & beacon systems that use short-range microwave technology, and in-vehicle-only systems based on either satellite or cellular network communications
CONGESTION PRICING
Congestion pricing—sometimes called value pricing— is a way of harnessing the power of the market to reduce the waste associated with traffic congestion. Congestion pricing works by shifting some less critical or more discretionary rush-hour highway travel to other transportation modes or to off-peak periods, taking advantage of the fact that the majority of rush-hour drivers on a typical urban highway are not commuters. By removing a fraction (even as small as 5%) of the vehicles from a congested roadway, pricing enables the system to flow much more efficiently, allowing more cars to move through the same physical space. Similar variable charges have been successfully utilized in other industries, for example, airline tickets, cell phone rates, and electricity rates. There is a consensus among economists that congestion pricing represents the single most viable and sustainable approach to reducing traffic congestion
METHODS OF CONGESTION PRICING
Types of congestion pricing schemes
Congestion pricing schemes can be classified in various ways. The four categories considered here are presented roughly in order of increasing scale
1 Facility based-schemes
For centuries tolls have been imposed on roads, bridges, and tunnels, and this is still the most common form of road pricing by far although tolls designed to price congestion have only been implemented on a few facilities. Tolls can be levied either on all lanes of a facility or on designated toll lanes as is done on HOT lane facilities. Tolls can also be levied either at a single point on a facility or at multiple points with the total amount paid determined by distance traveled
CONGESTION PRICING TECHNOLOGIES
A number of studies have reviewed the technologies currently or potentially used for distance-based road user charges and congestion pricing.
Functions to perform and types of systems
All congestion pricing systems must perform three basic functions: (1) measurement of road usage by identifying vehicles and recording their locations and/or the distance they have traveled as well as their characteristics such as number of axles that are relevant for determining charges, (2) communication of data for billing purposes, and (3) enforcement. With conventional systems that use toll booths vehicle detection and payment are done manually and access is controlled by physical
barriers. Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) systems perform the functions using various technologies. There are three types of ETC. systems
1. Roadside-only systems that use Automated Number Plate Recognition.
2. Dedicated Short Range Communications.
3. In-vehicle-only systems that rely either on satellites or cellular networks
Automated Number Plate Recognition
Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology uses digital cameras and optical character recognition (OCR) software to record an image of a vehicle and its license plate. ANPR is used standalone with roadside-only systems although this requires collecting and processing images for every vehicle. Highway 407 in Toronto is an example of an open-road tolling scheme that uses ANPR to record vehicle usage for billing purposes. ANPR is more commonly used for enforcement because only violators have to be processed and – unlike other technologies – ANPR does not require that vehicles have equipment in working condition
. Dedicated Short Range Communications
Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) is a means of Automated Vehicle Identification (AVI) and is a member of the class of tag & beacon systems. Antennas mounted on overhead gantries communicate with tags or transponders on vehicles as they pass by. Like ANPR, DSRC technology can be used for all three basic functions: road usage measurement, data communication, and enforcement. It can also be used in conjunction with on-board units (see vehicle equipment below) to operate a zonal tolling system by activating a vehicle’s on-board unit when it crosses into the zone, and deactivating it when the vehicle leaves the zone. DSRC technology operates in the radio frequency or microwave range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Some tolling systems communicate in the infrared range
. Cellular networks
Cellular networks are used by cellular phones. The most popular standard is Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications which uses Short Message Service (SMS). Cellular networks are within range of much of the roadway network and show promise as a means of road pricing although the application is not as well developed as it is for GPS. Like GPS, cellular networks do not require roadside infrastructure, and communications is possible anywhere rather than being restricted to gantries or locations where transponders have been installed. Cellular networks are also less susceptible to the urban canyon effect
A CASE STUDY ON CONGESTION PRICING CONCEPT IN CONNAUGHT PLACE, NEW DELHI, INDIA
Connaught place is the central business district (CBD) and an important trade and socio-cultural center of the city as shown in the Fig.1. Connaught place receives heavy volume of traffic throughout the day due to its strategic location. Chaotic traffic jams and acute parking shortfalls are also witnessed. This study looks into the effect of pricing on the traffic behavior in the case study area of Connaught Place. The objective of the study was to develop a mechanism of charging where the external costs are nullified by the revenue generation and leads to decrease in the traffic to an optimal level
CONCLUSION
Congestion pricing is an idea with a long academic pedigree that has gained credence amongst practitioners and policymakers. Yet congestion pricing in practice is still only a limited patchwork of schemes. Facility-based schemes dominate in North America. Europe has a few urban area-based congestion pricing schemes and a few intercity distance-based schemes for HGVs that are designed more for revenue generation and internalization of environmental costs than to control congestion. Several technologies are employed. The London and Stockholm designs use Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR). Singapore’s Electronic Road Pricing, most toll roads, HOT lanes in the US, and three heavy goods vehicles schemes in Europe use Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC). The German and Slovak Republic HGV systems use satellite technology. Cellular technology has not yet been implemented anywhere although it is promising. .
One general conclusion is that ANPR and DSRC are better suited for tolling individual facilities and urban areas where congestion is severe. Satellite and Cellular technologies appear to be more economical for pricing at larger geographical scales.
Satellite systems are already used to differentiate by type of road, number of axles, and emissions class, and they are capable of differentiating by time of day as well.
Arguments can be made for each option on the basis of various assessment criteria. Simplicity favors the low-tech option. The history of successes and failures with road