Daniel Albalate Germà Bel University of Barcelona What Local Policy Makers Should Know about Urban Road Charging: Lessons from Worldwide Experience Looking at Administrative Innovation and Change Abroad Daniel Albalate is a lecturer in economics at the University of Barcelona. His research interests include public sector reform, privatization and regulation, infra- structure, and urban transportation. He has published articles in international journals such as the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Transportation Research-A, and Governance. E-mail: albalate@ub.edu Germà Bel is a professor of economics at the University of Barcelona and a guest professor at the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics. His research interests include public sector reform, privatization and regulation, infrastructure, and urban development. He has published articles in international journals such as the Journal of Economic Perspectives, Public Choice, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, Local Government Studies, Urban Studies, Journal of Urban Affairs, International Journal of Transport Econom- ics, Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Transport Reviews, Public Administration; and Governance. E-mail: gbel@ub.edu … American policy makers are increasingly considering the use of charges and fees on road users to reduce traffic in heavily congested urban areas. Congestion costs are emerging as one of the most important challenges faced by metropolitan planners and transport authorities in developed economies. In the United States, these costs were as high as $78 billion in 2005 and are growing as a result of rapid increases in travel delays. In order to solve the current and severe levels of congestion, the U.S. Department of Transportation has recently started a program to initiate congestion pricing in five metropolitan areas. In this context, it is important to identify factors that influence successful implementation, as well as the problems or difficulties associated with charging projects. he authors review, synthesize, and analyze worldwide experience with urban road charging in order to extract lessons for policy makers who are considering the implementation of congestion pricing projects and for those who are interested in the introduction of traffic management tools to regulate entrance to city centers. C ongestion costs are emerging as one of the most important challenges faced by metro- politan planners and local public authorities in developed economies. In the United States, the costs of delays and excess fuel consumption rose to $78 billion in 2005, important economic losses for individuals and for the national economy (Schrak and Lomax 2007). Consequently, policy makers at all levels of government are searching for policies and strategies to lower traffic congestion and its attendant costs. he traditional approach to reducing congestion costs has been infrastructure enlargement and road investments, but to date, the impact of this approach has proved limited. A recent study by Winston and Langer (2007) estimates that each dollar spent on highways only reduces road congestion costs by 11 cents. Based on implementation in large urban areas outside the United States, American policy makers are increasingly consid- ering the use of charges and fees on road users to reduce traf- fic in heavily congested urban areas (Geddes 2007). Congestion pricing is a credible alternative to infrastructure investments because it reduces congestion more efficiently and without a significant investment of public funds (Parry 2002). As a result, the U.S. Department of Transportation re- cently selected five major urban areas to receive funds for pilot congestion charges projects. hese projects are intended not only to alleviate traffic congestion, but also to identify factors that facilitate the successful implementation of congestion charges and fees. In advance of the findings to be generated from the studies of these U.S. cities, we draw on the experience of cities around the globe that have implemented con- gestion charges to reduce peak-time traffic in their city centers. Specifically, we review, synthesize, and analyze the results of studies that have examined the five most prominent cases of congestion charges implementation: London, Singapore, Stockholm, Bergen/Oslo/Trondhe- im, and Edinburgh. By identifying and examining the factors leading to success or failure in these cities, this article offers valuable lessons learned on the implemen- tation of congestion charges for policy makers, plan- ners, and transportation managers in the United States. National and local characteristics and different insti- tutional frameworks influence perspectives on the way in which road user charges are addressed. Debates on road user charging in Europe have focused largely on tolls versus budgets to fund motorways. In the United States, the debate has mostly focused on the use of gas taxes to fund non-toll motorways, and more recently, some discussion of the use of tolls to fund motorways has arisen (e.g., Bel and Foote 2009). his article does not deal with road user charges as a funding tool, but rather their use as regulatory tools (congestion charging) in order to manage road demand. hat said, an interesting ques- tion that links congestion charg- ing with transport financing is what to do with the net revenues from charges—the improvement 962 Public Administration Review • September | October 2009