Road and parking pricing are of increasing interest to transportation and air quality planners as ways to reduce automobile use and traffic with its associated pollution. Three road and parking pricing concepts are examined. The issues of effectiveness, feasibility, legality, acceptance, and implementation are evaluated on the basis of experience and research to date. In road pricing, key issues include public acceptability, legal impediments with respect to pricing of federally aided facilities, legislative requirements concerning enforcement, administration of large-scale permit distribution or automatic vehicle identification (AVI) systems, and institutional requirements pertaining to administration, enforcement, and revenue distribution. Parking pricing issues relate to the extent of pricing (public or private parking facilities or both), the legal and administrative implications of taxing the providers or users of parking, how employer policies interact with parking pricing to influence employee automobile use and mode choice, and the question of enforcing pricing permit schemes on private property. Specific research and assessment needed to address the issues are suggested, and roles for local, state, and federal agencies in carrying out the research agenda are identified. (A)
Abstract