Pricing measures for urban logistics
Pricing measures for urban logistics set a price for a certain piece of road or for entering a zone, and can be variable over the course of a day (e.g. congestion charging). They are aimed at reducing congestion and emissions. Different charges can be applied for different vehicle types, thus encouraging the use of more environmentally friendly vehicles. Measures that define the use of revenues from pricing measures are also part of a pricing policy. If revenues are recycled in the wrong way (allowing companies to balance the costs of charges) there is no effect.
Where charges vary with different vehicle types and their environmental performance, the measure stimulates fleet renewal and the use of electric vehicles for inner-city transport, thus reducing the amount of CO2 emitted by heavy vehicles. It can incentivise more-efficient operations and better use of available vehicle capacity, hereby lowering emissions per tonne-kilometre.
The following costs are associated with pricing measures:
- Costs to install the toll infrastructure
- Operational costs (i.e. administration costs for monitoring and enforcement of the tolls).
Co-benefits of pricing measures include the following:
- Reduced congestion levels, and thus travel-time savings for deliveries (where rebound effects, such as increased motorised vehicle traffic thanks to reduced congestion, can be kept in check)
- Reduced emissions of other pollutants (especially when the pricing measure encourages the use of low- or zero-emission vehicles)
- Noise reduction during peak hours (in the case of congestion charging, especially where the measures encourage the use of low or zero emission vehicles).
Pricing measures can:
- Increase total vehicle-kilometres driven by trucks where they are incentivised to avoid the charged roads to avoid potential fees
- Increase movements outside of peak hours (in the case of congestion charging)
- Raise costs for freight operators.
ITF (2021) Transport Climate Action Directory – Pricing measures for urban logistics
https://www.itf-oecd.org/policy/pricing-measures-for-urban-logistics
Allen (2007) Good Practice Guide on Urban Freight Transport. http://www.bestufs.net/download/BESTUFS_II/good_practice/English_BESTUFS_Guide.pdf
Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat Kennisinstituut voor Mobiliteitsbeleid (KiM) (2018) Effecten van prijsprikkels in de mobiliteit: een literatuurscan. http://web.minienm.nl/kim/prijsprikkels/3_0.html
Slabbekoorn, M. (2014) On the Edge of Sustainable Urban Freight Distribution - Research on the Diversity of Perspectives Towards Urban Freight Consolidation. http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a9437078-bcbe-408e-8662-6ad65b75b138
Vegamot (Last updated 2018) About the road toll projects. https://www.vegamot.no/About_the_road_toll_projects.aspx
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