Norway's urban toll rings: Evolving towards congestion charging?

The role of various types of road user tolls has been an important part of Norwegian transport development for a number of years. There are now around 50 such projects in operation around the country. This paper examines the urban toll ring projects and presents results from new research into the schemes in Norway's three largest cities: Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim. The research indicates that key decisions are being debated as to whether the schemes will continue as toll rings, be stopped completely or transformed into more of a demand management style policy. Interviews with road and local authorities have shown that the feelings are mixed and that the decision will depend on various transport, social, organisational and political factors.This paper reviews the cases of Bergen, Oslo and Trondheim and documents the latest developments in each scheme. The theory behind the application of the toll rings is explored through the case studies. Despite all the projects being implemented by similar networks, each scheme developed its own individual characteristics. These are laid alongside the economic and transport benefits with which they have been associated. The Strategic Policy Niche Management framework is used to analyse various aspects of the toll projects and identify key lessons. The effect these might have on future UK projects is also discussed.     

Singapore''s experience with car quotas: Issues and policy processes

This paper examines the policy processes behind Singapore's car quotas. The policy, when filtered through the market mechanism, had a number of unintended consequences. The public's unhappiness with certain features and ‘loopholes’ of the system resulted in many changes to the rules. The effects of recent measures to curb speculation on quota premiums are evaluated. Problems with Singapore's Weekend Car Scheme are also discussed. The lesson for transport policy makers elsewhere is that in attempting to deal with the road congestion problem through car ownership policies, an asset market for vehicles should be taken into account.     

Assessing policy measures for the stimulation of intermodal transport: a GIS-based policy analysis

Intermodal transport is the combination and integration of several transport modes (such as rail, inland waterways with road transport). In order to make the transhipment easy and efficient standard loading units are used, such as containers or swap-bodies. As for the main haul, more environmental friendly modes are used (rail and inland waterways) and a modal shift towards these modes can help in reducing the congestion. Therefore several policies are directed to stimulate the intermodal transport market.In this paper, a location analysis model for Belgian intermodal terminals (LAMBIT) is developed and used to assess different policy measures in Belgium. The simulations show that the different policy measures oriented towards the rail/road and inland waterways/road combinations should be incorporated in a coherent, integrated vision, in order to not create a modal shift between the different intermodal transport options. The methodology can easily be extended towards a European scale.     

Do firms flee traffic congestion?

Much transport policy aims to use congestion relief measures to support economic activity, but planners know relatively little about how individual firms respond to traffic congestion. This study helps fill this gap by exploring individual firm location responses to traffic congestion within the Philadelphia metropolitan area between 2003 and 2007. This study tests whether existing, basic-industry firms flee congested areas to minimize exposure to the congestion externality. Relocation responses are estimated and compared for five separate industries (finance and insurance, health care, manufacturing, real estate and leasing, and wholesale trade) using firm-level data collected by InfoUSA and obtained from ESRI. Results suggest that congestion influences firm location decisions, but that the scale of congestion is important. While firms appear to relocate out of areas with high regionally-scaled congestion, areas with high local congestion are associated with a lower likelihood of relocating. In sum, while regional congestion appears to be a drag, local congestion appears to function as an amenity – implying that there is truth in the competing notions among engineers and economists of congestion as a diseconomy and among urban designers of congestion as an amenity.     

Why standard modelling and evaluation procedures are inadequate for assessing traffic congestion measures

As traffic congestion in Hong Kong worsens with the growing use of motor vehicles, to determine what has to be done to achieve and maintain an acceptable level of mobility for persons and goods becomes the subject of intense debate by economists, planners and politicians. Although many traffic congestion measures have been suggested and investigated, they are mainly confined to expansion of transport infrastructure and measures to make effective use of roads. New roads and public transport improvements may encourage increases in traffic and changes in the patterns of trips, while traffic management and regulation measures may in turn lead to suppression in road traffic. In order to evaluate these measures, it is required to make use of a transport model in assessing their traffic impacts. However, there are always discrepancies between the traffic forecasts and the actual flows on the roads. This paper investigates why the standard modelling and evaluation procedures currently used by the Hong Kong Government are inadequate for assessing the traffic congestion measures. Empirical evidence is given together with discussion on modelling and evaluation issues raised by the existence of suppressed/induced traffic.     

The impact of transport on social exclusion processes with specific emphasis on road user charging

This paper looks at the ways in which transport can impact on social exclusion processes by examining how the introduction of road user charging may affect residents of Bristol. It gives an overview of the concept of transport and social inclusion/exclusion, describes key themes emerging from DfT-funded research conducted in the city and reflects on the importance of consideration of these themes to the policy's successful implementation. By exploring road user charging from both collective and individual perspectives, the paper illustrates how this congestion charging policy could promote social inclusion.     

Identification and classification of public transport activity centres in Stockholm using passenger flows data

Urban geography could be characterized by analysing the patterns that describe the flows of people and goods. Measuring urban structures is essential for supporting an evidence-based spatial planning policy. The objective of this study is to examine how the spatial–temporal distribution of public transport passenger flow could be used to reveal urban structure dynamics. A methodology to identify and classify centres based on mobility data was applied to Metropolitan Stockholm in Sweden using multi-modal public transport passenger flows. Stockholm is known for its long-term monocentric planning with a dominant central core and radial public transport system. Strategic nodes along its radial public transport system have been a focus for development of sub-centres. Although the regional planning policy embraces a shift towards a polycentric planning policy, the results indicate that this has not been realized insofar.     

Reducing road congestion: a reality check

For some little while now, transport policy seems to be focused on massive relative increases in public transport ridership and reduction of car use, resulting in a hoped-for reduction in road congestion. Starting with concerns with vehicle emissions as far back as the mid-1980s, and moving now into more of a focus on greenhouse gases and congestion, current transport policies are aimed at reducing two perceived externalities of increasing car use—vehicular emissions and congestion. This paper seeks to check the reality of these policy directions and question whether these are desirable, let alone achievable end states. The paper starts by looking at congestion and questions whether or not it is intrinsically bad. The negative and positive aspects of congestion are explored. The concepts of accessibility and mobility are discussed, particularly in relation to congestion and capacity increases, with the idea of trying to understand better what capacity increases or increasing congestion do to these two measures. The expectation must be that congestion levels are likely to continue to increase into the future, both as a result of increasing population and also increasing real wealth and changes in preferences. This section of the paper concludes that it is within the power of the market place to offset some of the negatives of congestion.In the next section of the paper, the potentials to increase public transport ridership are examined. An illustration is provided of the likely impacts of achieving a doubling in public transport ridership in a hypothetical city. It is found that the effects of such an achievement would be relatively small on the overall congestion of the road system, and that these effects would also be likely to be fairly short-lived. At the same time, the investments that would be necessary in the public transport system are enormous, and there is relatively little likelihood that one could achieve such an increase in ridership within current development patterns. The paper also addresses the potential of congestion pricing or road user charges to impact congestion. It is concluded that charging motorists a politically acceptable amount will probably still not make significant impact on overall system congestion, while the potential for serious impacts on the economy become large if the charges are made sufficiently high or the area covered is made sufficiently large. In the final section of the paper, a number of policy directions are put forward as suggestions for how to deal with the issue of congestion, capacity, and the declining share of market of public transport. These policy directions are not generally the ones that are being pursued today. The issue of congestion pricing is revisited, and a case is made for a kilometrage charge on road users to replace most current licensing schemes.     

The politics of congestion mitigation

Most research on congestion overlooks the political context of traffic congestion and congestion mitigation policies. While failed congestion policies around the globe are products of misguided premises and flawed analyses, they are also the products of political processes that emphasize highly visible congestion relief projects and programs over actually relieving congestion. Accordingly, this paper makes and defends four propositions. First, that public officials tend to exaggerate the consequences of (widely unpopular) metropolitan traffic congestion for political gain. Second, that (widely popular) public transit investments are unlikely to meaningfully reduce congestion. Third, that public officials can cynically use congestion as a rationale for funding for high-profile, politically-popular transportation (and, increasingly, public transit) projects. And fourth, that the experience to date suggests that various forms of transport and parking pricing offer the best hope for meaningfully reducing congestion in the coming years.     

Integrating transport into ‘joined-up’ policy appraisal

In 1998 the UK Government published the first Transport White Paper for over 20 years, A New Deal for Transport; Better for Everyone. The document emphasised the need for joined-up policy thinking and for co-ordinated action across different areas of government, a theme that has been taken up in many subsequent policy documents issued by central government. The paper explores the extent to which ‘joined-up thinking’ is evident in practice, both in the ways in which transport measures are appraised (e.g. do they fully take into account non-transport impacts?), and in appraisals in other policy areas with significant transport impacts.It does so by examining appraisal frameworks in different sectors, and identifies a number of current weaknesses. It then builds on these examples to propose ways in which an integrated policy appraisal framework could be developed. This would aim to identify not only the comparative cost-effectiveness of different transport measures in fulfilling policy objectives, but also the relative contribution that different areas of government could make—including transport—to the delivery of over-arching policy objectives, such as sustainable development, social exclusion and regeneration.     

Transport policy instruments and transport-related social exclusion in rural Republic of Ireland

One of the core commitments of rural development is to ensure social integration whereby all people get the opportunity to realise their full human potential. Despite this, there is still poor regard given to how people live and work in rural areas and how economic and social policies impact on their quality of life. Using the example of the Republic of Ireland, this paper explores how rural development policies are being undermined by other policy instruments (specifically transport) which have a contradictory impact and, rather than relieve rural disadvantage, further compound the exclusion of some sectors of rural society. Assessing rural development and transport policy instruments; trends emerging from the most recent 2002 Census Data; and case study evidence relating to the rural transport initiative (RTI) in the Republic of Ireland, this paper confirms the lack of integrated policy thinking and in some circumstances the exacerbation of further rural disadvantage.     

Transport problems that matter - social and psychological links to transport disadvantage

This paper presents an analysis exploring self-reported measures of transport disadvantage and how these relate to social exclusion and well-being in Melbourne, Australia. A sample of 535 individuals sourced from a household survey explores ratings of 18 types of transport problems. The questionnaire also measured social exclusion represented in five dimensions including income, unemployment, political engagement, participation in activities and social support networks. Well-being was also measured adopting standard psychological measures of ‘Satisfaction with Life’, ‘Personal Well-being Index,’ ‘Positive Affect’ and ‘Negative Affect’.A factor analysis of self-reported transport difficulties identified four statistically significant sub-scales (‘transport disadvantage’, ‘transit disadvantage’, ‘Vulnerable/Impaired’ and ‘rely on others’) which together account for 57% of the variance in the responses.Analysis established that those with high self-reported transport problems were more likely to be located in fringe and remote parts of the city and lived in areas where it was not possible to walk to a local shop. However all groups made an average number of trips per day (except the ‘Vulnerable/Impaired’ group which make fewer trips) suggesting that self-reported transport disadvantage is unrelated to realised mobility. Analysis further established that only the ‘Vulnerable/Impaired’ group was associated with social exclusion and that they also had the lowest values of well-being compared to other groups.Overall findings confirm the methodological concerns associated with the use of self-reported measures of transport problems as a basis for defining transport disadvantage. The majority of those with high self-reported transport problems did not travel less than the survey sample as a whole and they were not associated with social exclusion. However the ‘Vulnerable/Impaired’ group was the exception, displaying a significantly higher association with social exclusion and lower well-being.The findings suggest which aspects of transport disadvantage are likely to be of greater concern for social policy. A concentration of research and policy on issues and social groups associated with the ‘Vulnerable/Impaired’ factor would be more effective in reducing social exclusion. Transport problems associated with this group including physical access to transport, knowing where to go and feeling safe from theft or attack when travelling may deserve higher priorities for attention. In addition those associated with the ‘Vulnerable/Impaired’ factor including older retired females and those who are more likely to be looking after someone with an illness or disability are clearly a high risk group and should warrant positive discrimination in transport and social policy.     

Public transport strikes and traveller behaviour

In many countries strikes hit the public transport sector from time to time. Public transport strikes are important for transportation research because they can impact upon the perceived reliability of public transport services. Moreover, the traveller's most preferred alternative is removed from the choice set. The traveller is forced to make up his mind about his preferences; doing so may induce a shift from inert, habit-driven behaviour to rational behaviour. In this paper we review 13 studies of strikes in the public transport sector, discuss criteria that determine the kind and size of the effects of a public transport strike, and present the results of a survey carried out after a short, unannounced railway strike in the Netherlands. Our survey confirms the results of other studies. In the short-term mainly captive travellers are affected; these are mostly commuters without alternative modes of transport who are highly inflexible in their departure or arrival times. As a result, on average 10–20% of the trips are cancelled. Most travellers switch to the car (either as driver or passenger) and as a result road congestion increases. Longer-term effects include a decrease in market share for public transport, which various studies estimate to be between 0.3 and 2.5%. The effect of a strike on public transport rider-ship can be temporary or permanent, depending on the type of strike and the policy response to it.     

Transport practice and policy in Mauritius

Like many developing nations over the last twenty years or so, the small, isolated, densely populated, developing Indian Ocean island of Mauritius has undergone––and continues to undergo––a revolution in the way its society lives and works. From a transport perspective, the case of Mauritius is interesting because it exhibits many of the transport problems faced in other countries, such as worsening congestion, air pollution and traffic accidents, but its transport planners have rather less time, experience and resources to develop a solution before the situation becomes critical, due to the faster pace of population, economic growth, and the lack of space. Further, while Mauritius is clearly a developing country, the future policy options currently being considered by the Government are perhaps better suited to a western developed nation than to a less capital intensive country.This paper outlines the development of transport policy on the island to date, and suggests that Mauritius might look to models closer to home to see how to address its problems instead of looking to the West for its inspiration.     

The Gothenburg congestion charge scheme: A pre–post analysis of commuting behavior and travel satisfaction

The article uses the Gothenburg congestion charge scheme, implemented in 2013, as a case study to analyze the effects and perceptions of a policy instrument directly aimed to change the travel behavior of individuals. For the study, a survey was conducted including measures of commuting habits, attitudes (toward the congestion charge, the environment, automobility, and public transport), and satisfaction with travel, along with socio-demographic and geographical variables. The survey was distributed to a panel of 3500 car owners in the Gothenburg region before the implementation of the scheme, with a follow-up one year later. The analysis use group comparisons and a binary logistic regression analysis and results show that the difference in accessibility of different societal functions using private versus public transport affected the propensity to reduce car travel, whereas socio-demographic variables had a low statistical significance, with the exception of women who were twice as likely to reduce their car travel than men. All studied groups reported a more positive view of the scheme at follow-up, although this effect was more pronounced among those adapting their commuting behavior. In none of the studied groups did the implementation of the congestion charge scheme correlate with any significant change in satisfaction with travel.     

Constructing the cycling citizen: A critical analysis of policy imagery in Brisbane,Australia

Cycling is often promoted as a low cost, accessible and virtuous strategy for solving many urban problems, including air pollution, congestion, climate change and the ‘obesity epidemic’. Yet the status of cycling as a quick and easy transport solution available to all is rarely problematised in policy documents. Focussing on cycling policy documents in sub-tropical Brisbane (Australia) we apply interpretive policy analysis to identify the ways policy representations of cycling and cyclists may work to exacerbate the marginality of certain groups by excluding them from representation. Through analysis of these policy documents, and reference to international research on cycling and the right to the city, this article sketches out the figure of the ‘Cycling Citizen’ constructed within them. The Cycling Citizen is characterised in these policy documents by a combination of actions (such as demonstrations of speed and skill), personal attributes (such as body-type, clothes and gender) and attitudes (particularly around virtue). We argue that the dominance of representations of MAMIL (middle-aged men in lycra) cyclists in the policy documents analysed may work to make cycling less accessible to those less likely to identify as MAMIL such as women, people of colour, people with lower incomes, and fat people, and this may effectively exclude them from cycling policy decisions, and negatively shape personal choices about cycling. We further argue that policy representations of cycling and cyclists matter because they have the potential to influence infrastructure and funding decisions which may have material consequences with respect to cycling mode share, equity and safety.     

Hinterland transportation in Europe: Combined transport versus road transport

The dominance of road for hinterland services could be challenged by using rail-road or waterway-road transport because of costs, congestion and growing environmental constraints. A common dynamic that is very favorable to the development of combined transport is shared among the actors of the transport chain but with different starting positions considering the ports of the Northern Range.But combined transport must still demonstrate that it can compete with road transport. Road transport and combined transport are not directly comparable because they do not offer the same physical transport service. The organizational patterns of road and combined transport are investigated. The example of hinterland services to and from the port of Le Havre to the Paris region is a particularly interesting case because of the very short distance. It is shown that the competitiveness of combined transport in terms of price varies greatly according to the way road transport it competes with is organized and that the commercial policy of combined transport operators plays a key role for explaining this competitiveness. Additional services such as additional dwelling times and specific custom advantages are paramount of importance to encourage the shift from road transport to combined transport.     

Assessing the interaction between transport policy targets and policy implementation—A Finnish case study

This article explores the potential of a target analysis method in acting as a link between policy objectives, targets, measures and their implementation in order to intensify the policy process. The context is the information-abundant policy environment where feasibility conditions keep constantly changing. The policy process frameworks for bounded rationality and experiential incrementalism are used as a basis for exploration and complemented with our target analysis, which is tested with a case of Finnish transport policy targets. We argue that by studying synergies and conflicts as well as other dependencies between the targets presented in policy statements and also by examining the possible support or opposition of main stakeholder groups for the policy measures to meet the targets, we can appraise the potential success of the transport policy implementation. Our case study, the Finnish transport policy, presented targets with quite a clear direction, with a lot of weak synergies and only a few serious conflicts. The implementation of the policy measures, presented to meet these targets will, however, be demanding because of several reasons related to the challenges to governance that are emerging from the complex and continually changing linkages between and among transport (policy) problems, targets and their consequences. The method we presented and tested proved to be useful in bringing transport policy targets closer to policy implementation by considering policy measures to meet the targets and their acceptance as a part of the target or objective analysis process. The findings suggest that linking these often detached parts of the policy process together the co-ordination will be improved and the process hence intensified. The target analysis presented could act as an originator for a more open, interactive and particularly systematic process in transport policy formulation, leading through social learning into a more successful implementation of policies.     

Informal transport: A global perspective

Informal transport services—paratransit-type services provided without official sanction—can often be difficult to rationalize from a public policy perspective. While these systems provide benefits including on-demand mobility for the transit-dependent, jobs for low-skilled workers, and service coverage in areas devoid of formal transit supply, they also have costs, such as increased traffic congestion, air and noise pollution, and traffic accidents. This article reviews the range of informal sector experiences worldwide, discusses the costs and benefits of the sector in general and uses several case studies to illustrate different policy approaches to regulating them.     

Attitudes towards traffic problems and public transport in the Dartmoor and Lake District National Parks

Problems associated with traffic demand have received only scant attention in the rural context and, although accepted as a viable approach to ameliorating urban traffic problems, traffic demand management has only recently been adopted by rural policy makers. In the national parks, where traffic-related problems are particularly acute, most traffic management measures are of the ‘carrot’ varity where attempts are made to persuabe private car passengers to use public transport transpon mobes, their success depends on tne attitudes of private car users towards public transport alternatives and their perceptions of the presence scale and impact of traffic-related problems. By analysing surveys of 768 drivers hr the Entamoor and Lake District National Parks, the potential success of ‘carrot’ measures is assessed and the implications for future policy addressed.