Partners and International Organizations
(English)
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INREGIA, Stockholm (S); - CERTU, Lyon (F); SYNERGO, Zürich (CH); BARCELONA REGIONAL, Barcelona (E); - BEATT, Bureau of European Affairs for Traffic and Transport, Rotterdam (NL); KTI, Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Regional Planning, Stockholm (S)
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Abstract
(English)
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The basic aim of the PRIMA project is to produce policy recommendations and guidance for the implementation of urban road pricing systems in Europe. The project compares eight cities in Europe - Barcelona, Bern, Lyon, Marseilles, Oslo, Rotterdam, Stockholm and Zürich - that differ according to progress in terms of implementing road pricing. The specific objectives are:
· to assess the acceptance of road pricing in urban areas
· to evaluate optimal designs of road pricing schemed and decision making processes thereby
· taking account not only of what is technically feasible but also of the acceptability of different schemes
· to identify barriers towards implementation of electronic urban road pricing systems and to develop a guideline showing how to remove these barriers
The cross-analysis of the various case cities shows that the transport systems have lots of common traits. Above all, the transport policies in all the case cities have more or less the same objectives and concerns. However, the institutional and territorial organisation of the transport system and the decision making processes are very city-specific. The transport networks can be classified in two categories: spiderlike networks (Oslo, Stockholm, Zürich, Bern, Lyon and Marseille) and gridlike networks (Rotterdam and Barcelona).
In 1999, first conclusions concerning the acceptance of road pricing have been drawn from the literature review and the various experiences throughout the world. There is a difference and possible conflict between public and political acceptance. The conflict is related to the distribution of time values and behavioural traits of politicians. If the distribution of time values is skewed and if, as public choice theory holds politicians most of all want to be re-elected then politicians may object to a road pricing scheme even if it is beneficial from the traditional benefit cost point of view.
Keeping this in mind, ECOPLAN has evaluated in the year 2000 diffenrent types of road pricing schemes. As a result ECOPLAN produced the subreport 'Optimal Design of Road Pricing Schemes' which was fully integrated in Deliverable 3 of the PRIMA project 'Assessment of Road Pricing Schemes and Implementation Processes'.
A Swiss workshop with around 50 participants was held on 14th January, organised by SYNERGO and ECOPLAN. The workshop gave valuable insights on possible ways towards more acceptance of urban road pricing in Switzerland. The results of he workshop were also fully presented in the framework of the Swiss National Research Programme NFP 41, where SYNERGO and ECOPLAN produced together with the partners from RAPP and INFRAS the report 'Road Pricing in der Schweiz - Akzeptanz und Machbarkeit möglicher Ansätze im Spiegel von Umfragen und internationaler Erfahrung'. This report was published at the beginning of September 2000.
The results of the PRIMA project were presented at an international conference in Stockholm, June 9th 2000.- The feedback of the numerous participants was encouraging and were taken account of in the PRIMA final report. This final report 'Ways and Means to Increase the Acceptance of Urban Road Pricing' was finished in the end of June 2000. It has been accepted by the European Commission and will be published in the next weeks.
Finally, an eight page leaflet summarising the resuls of PRIMA was produced.
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