Kapsch's Dietrich Leih believes any attempt to sweeten the pill of congestion charging is only likely to be a partial success. He thinks it is necessary to starting asking the right questions of the public and addressing other issues such as information provision which has been neglected to a degree. He believes it needs to be viewed in terms of access regulation and not as a toll. Two traditional approaches to the worldwide problems of congestion reduction and environmental issues were to do nothing or improve arterial/junction management. Now there is a clear international trend towards regulating access, either on a small scale such as congestion charging in cities, or across a much wider area such as the low emission zones currently springing up across Europe. Changing people's behaviour is essential and motivating them to understand and accept the need for change is part of the process. Persuading people to see the various strategies as components of an overarching solution to the big problem encourages acceptance of all the strategies. The author looks at some of these strategies across Europe and the US. The consumer electronics debate is summarised, and the issue of standardisation is addressed.
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