Would new forms of car pricing be good for the city ? : considering the relationship between congestion charges and environmental benefits.

The authors argue that there is a large difference in congestion charges set up to reduce congestion only and traffic charges meant to internalize external costs of car traffic (called `pollution pricing'). The latter would not offer a free ride outside the peak hours and would not reward high volume users (as is customary in congestion charges). Pollution charges could perhaps be differentiated in such a way as to complement supply side stimuli to environmentally friendly modes. (A)