Editing Road pricing (section)

{{short description|Methods of generating revenue from road users}}
{{about||the more specific concept of charges based on miles traveled|Vehicle miles traveled tax|the more specific concept of congestion charges to curb urban traffic demand|congestion pricing}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
[[File:Toll booths in the UK.jpg|thumb|250px|A toll plaza in the United Kingdom]]
{{Economics sidebar}}
{{Taxation}}

'''Road pricing''' are [[user charge|direct charges]] levied for the use of roads, including [[Toll road|road tolls]], distance or time-based fees, [[congestion pricing|congestion charges]] and charges designed to discourage the use of certain classes of vehicle, fuel sources or more polluting vehicles.<ref name=FHWA/><ref name=UCB/> These charges may be used primarily for revenue generation, usually for road infrastructure financing, or as a [[transportation demand management]] tool to reduce [[peak hour]] [[travel behavior|private vehicle travel]] and the associated [[traffic congestion]] or other social and environmental [[Externality|negative externalities]] associated with road travel such as [[tailpipe emissions|air pollution]], [[greenhouse gas emissions]], visual intrusion, [[noise pollution]] and [[road traffic collision]]s.<ref name=IFS2012>{{cite web|url=http://www.racfoundation.org/assets/rac_foundation/content/downloadables/fuel_for_thought-johnson_et_al-150512.pdf|title=Fuel for Thought – The what, why and how of motoring taxation|author1=Paul Johnson, Andrew Leicester|author2=George Stoye|name-list-style=amp|publisher=[[Institute for Fiscal Studies]] and Royal Automobile Club Foundation for Motoring|date=May 2012|access-date=2012-05-22|archive-date=10 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010173406/https://www.racfoundation.org/assets/rac_foundation/content/downloadables/fuel_for_thought-johnson_et_al-150512.pdf|url-status=live}} ''Executive Summary, pp. v''.</ref>

In most countries toll roads, [[toll bridges]] and [[toll tunnels]] are often used primarily for revenue generation to repay long-term debt issued to finance the toll facility, or to finance capacity expansion, operations, and maintenance of the facility itself, or simply as general tax funds.<ref name=FHWA/> [[Road congestion pricing]] for entering an urban area, or pollution charges levied on vehicles with higher tailpipe emissions are typical schemes implemented to price externalities. The application of congestion charges is currently limited to a small number of cities and urban roads, and the notable schemes include the [[Electronic Road Pricing]] in Singapore, the [[London congestion charge]], the [[Stockholm congestion tax]], the [[Milan Area C]], and [[high-occupancy toll lane]]s in the United States.<ref name=S&V2007>{{Cite book|author1=Small, Kenneth A. |author2=Verhoef, Erik T. | title = The Economics of Urban Transportation |url=https://archive.org/details/economicsurbantr00smal |url-access=limited |year = 2007| publisher = Routledge, New York| isbn = 978-0-415-28515-5| pages = [https://archive.org/details/economicsurbantr00smal/page/n164 148]–153}}</ref><ref name=AreaC>{{cite news|title=Area C è partita: calate del 40% le auto in centro dopo l'entrata in vigore del pedaggio|trans-title=Area C takes off: auto traffic decreased 40% in the center after the toll goes into force|language=it|url=http://milano.corriere.it/milano/notizie/cronaca/12_gennaio_16/congestion-primo-giorno-traffico-1902875137709.shtml|access-date=2012-01-16|work=Corriere della Sera Milano|date=2012-05-23|archive-date=13 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413212610/http://milano.corriere.it/milano/notizie/cronaca/12_gennaio_16/congestion-primo-giorno-traffico-1902875137709.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> Examples of pollution pricing schemes include the [[London low emission zone]] and the discontinued [[Ecopass]] in Milan. In some European countries there is a period-based charge for the use of motorways and expressways, based on a [[Vignette (road tax)|vignette]] or sticker attached to a vehicle, and in a few countries vignettes are required for the use of any road. Mileage-based usage fees (MBUF) or distance-based charging has been implemented for heavy vehicles based on truck weight and distance traveled in New Zealand (called RUC), Switzerland (LSVA), Germany ([[LKW-Maut]]), Austria (Go-Maut), Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and in four U.S. states: Oregon, New York, Kentucky, and New Mexico.<ref name=MBUF>{{cite web|url=http://roadpricing.blogspot.com/2012/05/mileage-based-usage-fees-distance-based.html|title=Mileage based usage fees – distance based charging – vehicle mileage tax – a future?|author=Scott Wilson|publisher=Road Pricing Blog|date=2012-05-03|access-date=2013-11-17|archive-date=17 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150117125037/http://roadpricing.blogspot.com/2012/05/mileage-based-usage-fees-distance-based.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Many recent road pricing schemes have proved controversial, with a number of high-profile schemes in the US and the UK being cancelled, delayed, or scaled back in response to opposition and protest. The tendency seems to reverse, however, when the system is already in place, with the popularity of existing systems often increasing while merely discussed systems face an uphill battle in public opinion. A 2006 survey of the economic literature on the subject finds that most economists agree that some form of road pricing to reduce congestion is economically viable and overall beneficial, although there is disagreement on what form road pricing should take. Economists disagree over how to set tolls, how to cover common costs, and what to do with any "excess" revenues (i.e., Revenues that exceed direct costs of road construction and maintenance, but which may still not cover [[external costs]] fully), whether and how "losers" from tolling previously free roads should be compensated, and whether to privatize highways.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[Econ Journal Watch]]|volume=3|issue=2|pages=292–379|author=Lindsey, Robin|title=Do Economists Reach a Conclusion on Road Pricing? The Intellectual History of an Idea|date=May 2006|url=http://econjwatch.org/issues/volume-3-number-2-may-2006|access-date=2008-12-09|archive-date=14 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120814072037/http://econjwatch.org/issues/volume-3-number-2-may-2006|url-status=live}}</ref>