Road pricing, or pay-as-you-drive, has been successful in reducing urban traffic volumes in many cities around the world. Paddy Comynreports on plans for its introduction here
Traffic congestion is a problem that simply isn't going away. Nor is it likely to in the very near future. The growth in the number of cars in EU member states is 10 times that of the population increase between 1990 and 2004, and the problems on our own clogged streets and motorways which, according to Ibec, are costing Irish business between €2 billion and €2.4 billion per annum are, like the M50, not going anywhere fast.
One solution is to build more roads, but increasingly this just attracts more traffic. And because the introduction of new roads, as we know only too well to our own cost, is not easy: policymakers are looking towards how and when the current road supply is made available to its users.
In the United Kingdom a solution to its particular congestion problems is being examined, which has caused much controversy and indeed public backlash over the past few weeks, and that is the area of road pricing schemes, or pay-as-you-go roads.
The UK is already somewhat familiar with the use of road charging to tackle congestion, in that London has had a congestion-charging system in place since February 2003, which was introduced by mayor Ken Livingstone to combat the then 5km/h average speeds in the capital.
The introduction of the scheme immediately reduced traffic volumes entering the charge area by 18 per cent (car numbers entering fell by 35 per cent) and delays fell by 30 per cent within the charging zone. At the same time, according to figures provided by Transport for London, bus speeds improved and passenger waiting times fell.
However, news that the British government is pushing ahead with plans to introduce road-pricing schemes in England and Wales, despite a huge public campaign against them, has raised fears that such a scheme could end up being introduced over here.
While it is unlikely that the UK will see widespread road pricing within the next 10 years, 10 local authorities have expressed an interest in setting up their own schemes which could be up and running within five years.
As part of the draft Local Transport Bill, councils would be given more leeway to match road-pricing schemes to the local environment. There has been a huge backlash from the public in Britain to any such charges, which culminated in an e-petition on Downing Street's website, which was backed by almost 1.8 million people.
Details of how the scheme would work are as yet unclear, but it would involve the use of similar technology to that used in satellite navigation systems. Each car would be fitted with an electronic tag to monitor its road use, and motorists would be charged for every mile they drive.
In 2005, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling proposed charging motorists by the mile. Under this plan, prices would start from 2p a mile on quiet roads outside rush hours, rising to £1.34 a mile on busy motorways like the M25 during rush hours.
London is not the only place to enforce road charging. Its system took much inspiration from Singapore, which introduced an area-licensing scheme as far back as 1975, then switched to an electronic road pricing (ERP) system in 1998.
In Singapore this system tackled congestion by optimising the use of the road infrastructure. In a country already blessed with a superb and well-funded public transport system, implementing such a scheme was not so difficult.
There has been similar success in Stockholm, Sweden. In July, congestion charging will be introduced following a successful six-month trial of the system.
Since the trial began, traffic volumes have been reduced by an average of 22 per cent, with transport carbon monoxide and CO2 emissions in the inner city having fallen by between 10 and 14 per cent.
As we reported in March, this scheme will generate €80 million per annum in revenue, with just €20 million required to run the system. The collection of €1 of revenue costs 22 cent in Stockholm, compared to 21 cent in Singapore, and 60 cent in London.
In a report produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Driving Change: How Policymakers are using Road Pricing to tackle Congestion, Gunnar Johansson, a traffic expert at IBM, states that: "Given how fast ownership is rising, especially in central Europe, congestion in city centres simply can't be beaten without the introduction of a pricing mechanism to harmonise the cost of driving to the car owner and its cost to society as a whole."
BUT THE REPORT continues that no congestion charge or tolling can be introduced or will be accepted if the objectives of such schemes are not set out clearly in the first place, that the technology is right, the costs are manageable, that all other less radical approaches have been tried, and that the benefits to the user are clear and the system fair.
With this in mind, the AA's Conor Faughnan sees the introduction of such a scheme to the state as a non-starter.
"In London and Stockholm there was already a high usage of public transport, as they have excellent systems in place that were further improved by funding from the system. Here in Ireland only 25 per cent of commuters coming into Dublin use public transport, so our public transport system would need to improve in quantum leaps before such a scheme could be even considered."
Public reaction to such a measure would also be unlikely to sit well. The Hibernian Motoring Report 2007this year showed that three out of every four motorists were firmly opposed to the introduction of congestion charging to major town and city centres. The same report stated: "Six out of 10 motorists say they would use their cars less if public transport were better."
Clearly the improvement of the transport system must be high in the priority list of the newly elected government. Until such time as a viable alternative comes along to get people out of their cars, then few will accept further charges for using them.