Many countries are in the process of introducing the use of ITS and the related technology of Automatic Vehicle Identification as a part of road tolling, intended as a means of funding interurban road construction, but the use of the same or similar technology for controlling urban congestion has made much less progress, partly because of the perceived political difficulties of making motorists pay for something that has traditionally been free: the right to use urban road space. The need for urban road pricing is not going to diminish, and problems of political feasibility may be more decisive than problems of technology. Attention therefore needs to be given to the mechanism of gaining approval for the traffic limitation policies that many cities now see as necessary even if not desirable. Examination of the history of attempts to introduce road pricing suggests that schemes introduced locally have greater chance of success than national initiatives. The paper explores why this should be so, and considers the implications for policy and ITS technology.
Abstract