REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE [WHY DO WE NEED ROAD PRICING?]

Regional road agencies (that is, at the state/provincial level) generally carry the majority of the responsibility for the provision of road transport related services and infrastructure. The issues facing regional road agencies are very similar worldwide: increasing capacity requirements and congestion in urban areas, significant backlog in maintenance and rehabilitation works, decreasing funding (in real terms) dedicated to roads over the years due to competing demands and increasing environmental concerns. Much of this pressure is generated by the mechanism by which road funding is collected. The possible use of road pricing however should not only be seen as a tool to implement travel demand management through pricing or as a way to increase revenue. Road pricing, using cost effective emerging technologies, has the potential to one day provide a more equitable and efficient system of pricing and charging for road use throughout an entire network. There are however a number of challenges in reaching this goal and these are discussed further in this presentation. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E202540.