[sustran] What is wrong with congestion charging?

[eric britton]

Salve Walterus, Thanks for asking. 

 

My view in a few short lines: It's like that silly word "smart" that crops
up all over the place.  Every time I hear that knee-jerk, self-aggrandizing
word I have to wonder who is selling what to whom.  As I said in Barcelona
last week, I may not be all that clear when someone talks to me about a
"smart city", but I sure as hell know that a stupid city is.

 

I look at what we have achieved with variants on this concept in
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_congestion_charge> London,
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_congestion_tax> Stockholm,
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Road_Pricing_%28Singapore%29>
Singapore,  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecopass> Milan, and of course
Singapore  -- not altogether without accomplishments, but . . .  --  and I
just don't see it as the best way to go for the cities of the (fast)
developing world.  It strikes me as a great idea, but an extremely
challenging one. Beyond that there is simply not enough experience with
making it work in the kinds of circumstances that characterize the cities of
the Global South. 

 

Of course China could do it and is and will. Good on them. I hope it works,
no I pray it works, but let's see how their best efforts pan out before
talking about this approach in cash-strapped economies.  It would be a great
thing indeed if China were to  emerge as a living laboratory and proving
ground of sustainable transport concepts that can then be studied and
adapted for application in a variety of other circumstances.  Instead of a
kind of haunting graveyard of the very worst from 20th century America. 

 

For the rest, let me propose this. If you are cooking a congestion charging
proposal for a given developing city, let me see your objectives, budget,
competences and level of beyond-rhetorical political support, and I am sure
that with a few weeks in that place and with a little help from my friends
we can come up with a stronger and more affordable proposal to deal with the
problems that the CC project targets.

 

All that said, show me your CC proposal and give me a few days in that place
to talk with a couple of dozen well placed people there and I am sure that
we can come up with an alternative project that will do more, better and
cheaper.

 

Eric

 

PS. Bill Vickery was my professor of theory and advisor at Columbia. I was
very fortunate to have talked with him about all that was behind the concept
of charging for road space. He often made the point that the simplest way
that would do the job was the best (no exceptions, ever) . And he very often
proposed that full cost pricing of parking was the simplest way. 

 

PPS. Keep your eye on London. 

 

 

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Walter Hook [mailto:walter.hook at itdp.org] 

Sent: Monday, 12 December, 2011 14:51

To: eric britton; sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org at list.jca.apc.org;
'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport'; 'ashok datar'

Cc: 'Michael Replogle'; 'Clean Air Initiative -- Asia'

Subject: Re: [sustran] Delhi plans congestion charge to ease gridlock | The
Guardian

 

Eric, sorry, I do not speak latin.  What is wrong with congestion charging? 

Sent via BlackBerry

 

 

 

 

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