How road pricing can change your city

As the C40 group of mayors met in Copenhagen in early October, the Global New Mobility Coalition’s steering committee wrote an open Letter to highlight the importance of road pricing in the actions that will help deliver on the Paris Agreement’s commitments, driving towards meeting the goals of a prosperous carbon neutral economy and equitable society.

Here is the text of that letter, presented by Maya Ben Dror and Ivo Cré

Current applications and research demonstrate that effective pricing policies can drive significant, positive impact in cities by reducing congestion, climate emissions and local air pollutants, and increasing the use of transit and active modes of transportation. Citizens and visitors breath cleaner air, don’t lose time and experience an improved quality of life, and businesses enjoy higher revenues from having active mode lanes nearby.

The path for reversing a car-centric urban space is challenging yet rewarding. Fortunately, there are already many good examples out there including location-based approaches such as central district tolling (e.g. New York City), time- or demand-based models such as congestion charging (e.g. London, Singapore, Stockholm, Milan), and emissions based policies (e.g. London ULEZ).

Cities who have implemented road pricing schemes already have seen some great results:

• In London where the policy was implemented in 2003, traffic decreased by 15% and travel time decreased by 30 percent.
• In Singapore, the pioneer of congestion charging policy, travel times decreased because travel speed has increased from 30/35kph to 40/45kph since the 1980s, despite an increase in population. The policy ensures greater equity in mobility costs and travel time and increases economic productivity.
• In Stockholm, 197 new buses, 16 new bus routes, 2,800 new regional park-and-ride spaces and active mobility infrastructures were developed as part of the congestion pricing scheme. Coordinating these efforts maximizes long-term sustainability impact.

However, it is important to design road pricing policies carefully in order to enhance the environmental and societal benefits and take full advantage of emerging new mobility technologies. Road pricing policies in urban areas can take several forms and you can design the methods that best fit your city.

Below are five ways mayors can make sure their road pricing approach is most effective for their cities:

First, ensure the policy is serving the long-term vision for mobility, its design should reflect key mobility principles established by the city. For example, the Shared Mobility Principles, adopted by cities and transport agencies around the world, includes prioritisation of people over vehicles, the promotion of equity, and engagement with stakeholders.

Second, implement road pricing policies that establish a level playing field on which all vehicles are regulated. To tackle environmental and societal issues stemming from mobility at their core, the cost of driving a vehicle ultimately needs to reflect its cost to our cities. By charging a fee for all vehicles (private motorists, delivery vehicles, taxis, and new mobility technology platforms), road pricing creates an incentive for everyone to share space more efficiently. Policies that exempt large numbers of vehicles incentivise more travel. For instance, schemes that target only certain mobility options or that exempt certain vehicles like taxi fleets or private car owners (as some cities have done) may incentivise more travel in higher emission, lower efficiency cars. Charging fair fees to all types of vehicles is critical.

When priced significantly lower than more polluting, single-occupant modes, road pricing policies can lead to the significant shift from private cars to more sustainable mobility

Third, to the greatest extent possible road pricing schemes should reward higher-occupancy trips and lower emissions mobility. When priced significantly lower than more polluting, single-occupant modes, road pricing policies can lead to the significant shift from private cars to more sustainable mobility. While typical road pricing policies can naturally encourage higher occupancy per car offering multiplied incentives to those modes that increase seat occupancy – especially technology enabled platforms that can pool parties – helps to spur market innovation for sustained, future higher occupancy mobility. On a passenger-mile basis, one person in a 50 miles-per gallon hybrid car can have the same emissions profile as two people in a 25 miles-per gallon car. Similarly, extending outsised incentives for ultra-low (e.g. high fuel economy hybrids) and zero tail-pipe emission (e.g. full battery electric or hydrogen fuel cell) vehicles rewards market innovations that drive sustainable mobility. Taken together, these shifts can increase the options for high efficiency modes on an emissions per passenger-
mile/kilometer basis.

Fourth, funds collected through the policy should be channeled toward infrastructure improvements supporting high efficiency, shared and active modes of mobility. These funds should support “first/last mile” services, shared active and micromobility (such as walking, bikes, scooters, and mopeds), urban fast-charging for shared use EVs, microtransit including shuttles, and pooled on-demand services. First mile options play a critical role in commuters’ ability to access transit and leave their cars at home, and should be diverse and cater for different needs. When appropriate, convenient and cost-effective access to micro-mobility and active mobility options should be enabled, and on-demand shuttles and pooled rides to and from key transit lines should be made feasible. Should commute modes have reasonable availability of fast charging at key locations, first and last mile commute can be zero tailpipe emissions. These require agile planning, in which private and public actors co-design a seamless system that can serve all commuters while delivering sustainable mobility in which people ate at the center instead of vehicles.

Fifth, any road pricing program should feature strategies to improve equity in transportation. Transportation equity implies that all communities – including low-income, communities of color, immigrant communities, or individuals with disabilities – have adequate access to affordable transportation options and are not disproportionately affected by new transportation investments. Transportation equity is an on-going problem, especially as the proximity of jobs to high-poverty communities has declined rapidly since 2000. Implemented correctly, a road pricing program can promote equity instead of serving as a regressive fee on the most vulnerable residents. To promote equitable outcomes the program should: (1) Engage community members, especially vulnerable populations, in the process of developing a road pricing program, (2) Offer affordable alternatives to the charging system for qualifying vulnerable populations, such as free or discounted transponders and caps, discounts or exemptions for tolls, and (3) Use program revenues to improve transit service and bicycle and pedestrian networks, prioritising routes in marginalised communities.

The opportunity to address road-transport hazardous emissions and incentive shared rides and multi modal mobility, can bring a city one step further towards an inclusive, equitable, and clean mobility for all

The opportunity to address road-transport hazardous emissions and incentive shared rides and multi modal mobility, can bring a city one step further towards an inclusive, equitable, and clean mobility for all. We appreciate that Singapore, London, Stockholm and Milan have already adopted the policy, that NYC and state of Israel are drafting central district tolling policy, and cities such as Seattle and Los Angeles are considering adoption of new road pricing policies.New technologies now allow cities to establish dynamic pricing schemes with variable fees much more easily that was true even a few years ago. As a global coalition comprised of researchers, new mobility providers and advocates, we wish to support the generation and exchange of information useful for maximising the positive impacts of this valuable policy instrument. If designed right, road pricing can place your city on the path to clean and equitable human-centric mobility systems.

Sincerely yours,

Adam Gromis, Global Sustainability Lead, Uber

Amitai Bin-Nun, PhD., Vice President, Autonomous Vehicles and Mobility Innovation at Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE)

Andrei Greenawalt, Head of Public Policy, Via

Prof. Austin Brown, Executive Director, Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy, UC Davis, UC Davis

Daizong Liu, China Sustainable Cities Program Director and China Transport Program Director, WRI

Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, Polis – Cities and Regions for Transport Innovation

Lilly Shoup, AICP, Senior Director of Policy and Partnerships, Lyft

Maya Ben Dror, PhD., Future Mobility Projects Lead, World Economic Forum

Dr. Nicolò Daina, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London

Ori Yogev, Founder and Chairman, Future Mobility IL

Prof. Wolfgang Ketter, Chaired Professor of Information Systems at the Faculty of Management, Economics, and Social Sciences, and Director of the Institute of Energy Economics at the University of Cologne

On behalf of the World Economic Forum’s Global New Mobility Coalition

The new mobility 

Maya Ben Dror is the Future Mobility Projects Lead at World Economic Forum and one of the signatories of the Open Letter to C40 Mayors on Road Pricing. Ivo Cré Polis’ Director of Policy and Projects and Coordinator of the Access pillar interviewed her to get the Global New Mobility Coalition’s perspective on urban road user charges and their future.

What is the GNMC? Why is your organization, the WEF, piloting this?

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is dedicated to improving the state of the world. Currently, emissions from mobility will double by 2050, and as passenger vehicles account for 70 percent of these mobility GHG emissions and cause over 50 percent of city air pollution, the Forum and a strong stakeholder group decided to address this imminent risk for the planet and well-being. The Global New Mobility Coalition is a platform that gathers over 100 members from the private, NGOs, research and fellow coalitions and alliances of cities, such as Polis and C40, geared towards building awareness and co-developing policies that could reduce the number of polluting cars on the road from the projected 2.1 billion to 0.5 billion by 2050.

What’s unique about the Coalition, is that it seeks to accelerate the shift from single occupancy internal combustion engine cars, which will continue to dominate the market beyond 2030 under business-as-usual or electrification of new cars scenario, to ride-sharing in zero-emission modes that will eventually be automated. Studies show that the transition to shared, electric and automated mobility (SEAM) is feasible while accounting for increasing mobility demand and economic growth. SEAM is an important aspect of our flight against climate change because most drivers today are unlikely to leave their car keys at home and move more sustainably without a compelling alternative, and that active, transit and micro modes of commute which should be at the core of sustainable mobility systems, aren’t or cannot be adopted by all in the immediate and short term. Our vision is for a shared, high occupancy and right size, zero emissions, and eventually automated mobility systems in city centres, for achieving 95% reduction of passenger mobility emissions.

The GNMC comes forward with a strong message about urban road user charges – a controversial topic. Why do you think this is the right time to address this issue? 

Although only adopted by a handful of cities to date, Mayors around the world have recently been contemplating with Road Pricing. And rightfully so; pricing is a basic governance lever that can help guide behavioural shift, attract required investments and justify novel business models, and roadways are a public good that needs to be carefully managed if intended to serve a desired quality of life for all citizens. Over the past two decades, various schools of thought illuminated the fact that significant externalists of mobility – degraded air quality, intensified climate change, growing socio-economic gaps – are not accounted for in current mobility costs. Road-pricing offers an opportunity to redesign cost structures based on negative impacts over various locations and periods of the day in an inclusive, balanced and holistic manner – if designed right. It can also generate new funding that should be channelled to sustainable and inclusive mobility system improvements, of particular value when considering the removal of revenue from on-street parking in favour of active mobility enhancement. Mayors and voters alike seem to be open to re-price commute options as we shape a sustainable and inclusive mobility future.

How do new mobility services relate to urban road user charges?

New mobility solutions, from micro-mobility to autonomous vehicles, spurred public-private dialogue and a general public readiness, if not advocacy, for placing people and not cars – back in our city centres. Over 30 cities have already started acting upon that vision. However, the transition away from current car ownership isn’t easy for everyone. Road-user charges have proven to do a great deal in nudging people out of their cars without slowing socio-economic development and while designing for equity. Furthermore, now that a great variety of alternatives have been introduced by new mobility solutions, such as floating two-wheelers and on-demand mobility services, mobility is gradually being perceived as a service and not a product. Therefore, a greater variety of mobility payments options and wider spectrum of costs, have too entered the ground for new mobility costs levers at the disposal of not only companies, but also of those governing our public goods. Last, new mobility and the information era more broadly have increased the accuracy and abundance of real-world data that can in turn be harvested to create dynamic pricing policies.

What can we expect from the GNMC over the next months? 

The Global New Mobility Coalition is action-oriented. We’d like to move beyond awareness building and policy endorsement and support cities as they design agile road pricing.  Road pricing policy requires a delicate context dependent and nuanced effort. We wish to bring our know-how from technology, business, academic and advocacy groups, as well as partner with local stakeholders, in support of bold policy development and implementation. GNMC is also developing its thinking around how to best design and implement other policies that can accelerate the transition to share, electric and automated mobility (SEAM) for achieving greater and faster emissions reduction and welcomes likeminded to join its effort. We will continue to advocate for a holistic adoption of new mobility options that will enable everyone to commute more sustainably, and advocate that do so, while improving their quality of life. Acknowledging the hard yet acute task of cities in delivering on their goals, we wish to advance our mutual goal collaboratively and curate multi-stakeholder dialogues.