A framework for estimating the effects of congestion pricing : moving towards full-user-pay road pricing

Road pricing has been touted by economists as a tool for financing infrastructure and curbing many of the problems associated with urban transportation such as congestion and pollution. This research establishes a framework for examining the effects of a Full-User-Pay (FUP-RPS), that is a system where road users pay the full cost incurred by driving that includes road maintenance as well as air, noise and water pollution. FUP road pricing scenarios were tested on Metro Vancouver in order to answer three questions: 1) How will an FUP-RPS affect different user groups by geography and transportation mode; 2) Which areas of a region can we expect to become more desirable or less desirable with a fully user pay road pricing system, and; 3) How will business and industry be affected in a FUP-RPS? Three FUP-RPS scenarios were tested, each one subsidizing transit differently. It was found that users of all modes in a FUP-RPS would benefit and that no transportation mode was favoured significantly. Although drivers would experience higher user fees in a FUP- RPS, they would also experience greater benefits in the form of reduced gas taxes and congestion. FUP road pricing also did not make urban areas more desirable than suburban ones. Finally, FUP road pricing was found to reduce the transportation costs for business and industry. The property tax and congestion savings were found to be greater than the anticipated Roadway Facility tolls and externality charges.Applied Science, Faculty ofCommunity and Regional Planning (SCARP), School ofGraduat