Hardback
Road Pricing, Traffic Congestion and the Environment
Issues of Efficiency and Social Feasibility
9781858983653 Edward Elgar Publishing
This important and timely book will become an essential reference source for policymakers at the national and local level as well as academics and postgraduate students interested in transport economics and environmental economics.
More Information
Critical Acclaim
Contributors
Contents
More Information
The majority of societies are facing a conflict between the increasing levels of road traffic congestion, especially during peak hours and in urban areas, and a decline in the social acceptability of road expansion. This has led governments as well as non-governmental organizations to consider other methods of reducing road traffic. This book examines the efficiency and feasibility of the regulation of road traffic congestion in theory and practice, and within the context of social and political feasibility.
As long ago as the 1920s it was recognized that road pricing offered an efficient means of handling congested road traffic flows. Since then the severity of traffic congestion has increased so dramatically that it has turned the matter from an academic interest into one of the most serious problems affecting urbanized areas and transport arteries today. Increasing transport levels have other important external costs such as environmental effects, noise annoyance and accidents. As a result the need to find effective means of relieving congestion has become an important issue both at the national and local level. This book examines Pigouvian taxes, the most popular policy prescription among economists, as well as considering a variety of other policies which may be more politically and socially acceptable. The contributors discuss alternatives to Pigouvian taxes, as well as congestion and urban development, congestion pricing and road infrastructure investment, and road pricing and urban sustainability.
This important and timely book will become an essential reference source for policymakers at the national and local level as well as academics and postgraduate students interested in transport economics and environmental economics.
As long ago as the 1920s it was recognized that road pricing offered an efficient means of handling congested road traffic flows. Since then the severity of traffic congestion has increased so dramatically that it has turned the matter from an academic interest into one of the most serious problems affecting urbanized areas and transport arteries today. Increasing transport levels have other important external costs such as environmental effects, noise annoyance and accidents. As a result the need to find effective means of relieving congestion has become an important issue both at the national and local level. This book examines Pigouvian taxes, the most popular policy prescription among economists, as well as considering a variety of other policies which may be more politically and socially acceptable. The contributors discuss alternatives to Pigouvian taxes, as well as congestion and urban development, congestion pricing and road infrastructure investment, and road pricing and urban sustainability.
This important and timely book will become an essential reference source for policymakers at the national and local level as well as academics and postgraduate students interested in transport economics and environmental economics.
Critical Acclaim
‘. . . I would recommend this book to those concerned with the field and stress the usefulness of the last section.’
– David Pitfield, Environment and Planning B
‘The volume is a valuable addition to the literature on the subject. It gives considerable emphasis to practical aspects of the debate and alternatives to this raft of measures.’
– Austin Smyth and Julian Hine, Journal of Transport Geography
‘. . . this book provides a comprehensive and timely discussion of the relationships between road pricing and congestion costs.’
– Brian Graham, Local Environment
‘. . . it is appropriate that the papers provide the most comprehensive coverage of the topic in one volume to date . . . there is a definite need for university libraries to purchase this key reference text. . .’
– Matthew Steele, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management
– David Pitfield, Environment and Planning B
‘The volume is a valuable addition to the literature on the subject. It gives considerable emphasis to practical aspects of the debate and alternatives to this raft of measures.’
– Austin Smyth and Julian Hine, Journal of Transport Geography
‘. . . this book provides a comprehensive and timely discussion of the relationships between road pricing and congestion costs.’
– Brian Graham, Local Environment
‘. . . it is appropriate that the papers provide the most comprehensive coverage of the topic in one volume to date . . . there is a definite need for university libraries to purchase this key reference text. . .’
– Matthew Steele, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management
Contributors
Contributors: R. Arnott, C.-H.C. Bae, K.J. Button, A. de Palma, R.H.M. Emmerink, J.A. Gomez-Ibanez, T.D. Hau, O. Johansson-Stenman, P. Jones, D.M. Levinson, R. Lindsey, P. Nijkamp, S. Proost, H.W. Richardson, P. Rietveld, D. Shefer, K.A. Small, T. Sterner, K. Van Dender, E.T. Verhoef
Contents
Contents: Part I: Theory and Practice before and after Pigou Part II: Efficiency Aspects and Second-Best Policies Part III: Political and Social Feasibility Index
