查看文章

Economists have been recommending congestion tolls as a means of regulating urban traffic congestion for many years (Vickrey, 1963; UK Ministry of Transport, 1964? the Smeed Report). Until recently, however, the opposition to congestion tolling from politicians and the public appeared overwhelming. An overriding objection was the cost of collection; the queuing cost at tollbooths would have exceeded the benefit from the toll. The famous Hong Kong experiment persuasively demonstrated that electronic road pricing (ERP) is technically feasible. But it was not introduced in Hong Kong because of political opposition. A major concern was that the form of ERP employed would have permitted government monitoring of individuals' travel (Borins, 1986). That concern has now been addressed through the development of'smart cards', which are completely anonymous and permit instantaneous payment of tolls by …