Does the recent introduction of different time-of-day tolls on Sydney’s Harbour Bridge signal the beginning of congestion charges for Australian cities?
London, Rome, Stockholm, Oslo, Singapore. The list of cities charging people money to drive into the CBD to control traffic congestion is growing. New York is also considering it.
Typically, congestion charges apply to certain types of cars travelling within designated zones. In London, for example, electric and hybrid vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles are exempt from the charges along with buses, taxis, and emergency vehicles.
London, Rome, Stockholm, Oslo, Singapore. The list of cities charging people money to drive into the CBD to control traffic congestion is growing. New York is also considering it.
Typically, congestion charges apply to certain types of cars travelling within designated zones. In London, for example, electric and hybrid vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles are exempt from the charges along with buses, taxis, and emergency vehicles.
The theory is that differentiated charging has the potential to reduce environmental emissions and improve amenity for residents – not to mention significantly raise revenues for governments.
The University of Sydney’s Institute of Transport and Logistics proposed scrapping car registration fees and petrol taxes, replacing them with congestion taxes on city streets of up to 15 cents per Km. The plan involved GPS tracking a car’s movements with varying charges for different roads and times of day.
The NSW Roads Minister rejected the proposal, but it certainly doesn’t spell the end of the debate, particularly if the extra revenues go towards improving public transport in cities.
Congestion charges needn’t just be confined to the city either. The growing uptake of electronic transponders (‘E tags’) will provide future governments with the ability to introduce ‘pay-per-kilometre’ anywhere – even residential areas.
While congestion charges may not be on the immediate agenda for many cities in Australia, as the trend becomes more accepted worldwide, we can expect to hear a lot more about them.
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