Road pricing lessons: the experience to date

When in 2005 the government announced the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF), it took sometime before it became clear that "innovation" meant road pricing and had little to do with innovative public transport systems. Two years later, as the government finds itself confronted with massive bills for investments in the tram systems judged to be necessary prerequisites for the introduction of a bewildering range of road pricing schemes in the conurbations, it is timely to review world-wide experience of road pricing to date and to attempt to identify the characteristics of a good road user charging scheme and the conditions necessary for successful implementation.