Congestion Charging Scheme Research Articles

Measuring acceptance of tradable credit scheme and its effect on behavioral intention through theory of planned behavior

Public support is crucial for the successful implementation of congestion charging schemes. The Tradable Credits Scheme (TCS), a novel concept built upon the cap-and-trade principle, is believed to possess qualities of effectiveness and fairness that should lead to greater public approval. This study investigates the level of acceptance of TCS among the public and its impact on the propensity to shift travel modes in the TCS framework. In this study, we used the Theory of Planned Behavior, encompassing components such as attitudes toward TCS, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control and assessed the perceived effectiveness and equity of TCS. Data were acquired through an online survey involving 544 participants in China. The findings indicate that public acceptance of TCS is significantly influenced by subjective norms and attitudes toward TCS. In turn, behavioral intention is indirectly shaped by these factors, with acceptance serving as a mediator. Perceived behavioral control exerts a direct influence on behavioral intention, while perceived effectiveness and equity positively impact both the acceptance of TCS and behavioral intention. Moreover, latent profile analysis was used to determine the influence of various factors on TCS acceptance, following which we categorized the participants into four distinct groups. The results show that age, city scale, income, holding a driving license or not, car ownership, necessity through congested areas, main transportation modes, and the frequency of using different travel modes all affect the distribution of individuals in support or rejection groups Notably, over one-third of participants express TCS acceptance, with most holding a neutral stance, indicative of TCS's potential for public acceptance with effective guidance and comprehensive explanation. In summary, this research provides novel insights into the multifaceted factors that influence individuals' acceptance of TCS and offers valuable assistance in promoting an innovative traffic demand management policy.

How do the affective and symbolic factors of private car driving influence car users’ travel behavior in a car restriction policy scenario?

The number of private car trips a person makes is usually linked to external factors such as economic incentives or disincentives, legislation, infrastructure, and the quality of transport systems, among others. The impact of these options are typically analyzed to evaluate urban transport policies and projects. However, internal factors related to an individuals' attitudes and perceptions also play an essential role in the amount of private car driving they do and on urban mobility as well. Therefore, insight into private car driving's affective and symbolic aspects is important in order to formulate appropriate transport policies and strategies to reduce car-use dependency and encourage private car drivers to use public transport. Congestion charging schemes make drivers pay the full social cost of driving, they achieve congestion reduction, pollution reduction, they make cities more attractive for pedestrians and cyclists, and help improve quality of life. Congestion charging schemes are often difficult to implement and expensive to administer. As a result of these reasons, several cities worldwide have adopted a variety of car restriction schemes that try to reduce air pollution and congestion as well, instead of establishing congestion charges. The effects of driving restrictions in the short term are positive, but in the medium and long term, there are unwanted consequences. However, by giving private car drivers the option to pay a toll so that their cars are exempted from the restriction, these perverse incentives could be eliminated. This paper analyzes the impacts of internal factors related to individuals' attitudes and perceptions about the travel behavior of car users affected by car restriction policies in urban areas. We designed a stated preference survey conducted among car owners in Cali, Colombia, where a License Plate Restriction Charging (LPRC) policy has been in place since January 2017. Through hybrid discrete choice modeling, we demonstrated that latent variables, such as the feelings of being in control, independence, and higher social status, positively influence the decision to use cars for daily trips, thus impacting the urban modal split. The heterogeneity captured through these latent variables allowed us to understand more deeply how individuals deal with the LPRC policy in order to travel to their destination.

Estimating Travel Choice Probability of Link-Based Congestion Charging Scheme for Car Commuter Trips in Jakarta

The likely effects on car commuters of enforcing congestion charging using the link-based corridor method include that they may shift to public transport, divert their route of travel, or decide not to travel to the related area. However, most recent research has focused mainly on the choice of modes. This paper examined the travel choices of private car commuters resulting from the congestion charging scheme set to be implemented in Jakarta, Indonesia. The scheme is intended to replace the current odd-even strategy. It is imperative to study all possible mutually exclusive alternatives faced by car commuters. A web-based e-survey was used for data collection, employing the stated preference method. The discrete choice multinomial logit model was chosen to analyze the data. A total of 401 of the 2125 respondents to the e-survey questionnaire link, evenly distributed to all areas of Greater Jakarta, were sampled in this study. The sample respondents who traveled by car, passing through the eight designated corridors, were analyzed. NLOGIT6 software was used to analyze the parameter of attributes, the probability of alternatives chosen, and the marginal effects of congestion charging on such corridors, employing the multinomial logit model (MNLM). One surprising finding was that the load factor and taxi fares were not significant, indicating that the level of in-vehicle overcrowding is not a concern of respondents, and taxi services are not a substitute for car travel. Another surprising finding was that income variables and job type do not significantly influence travel behavior. In terms of the probability of commuters to continue to travel by car when link-based congestion charging is imposed, only around half of the car travelers were willing to pay the congestion levy and pass through congestion charging corridors. The probability of car travelers diverting onto alternative roads is high, i.e., around 16.82% to 22.88%, while the probability of car travelers shifting to mass transportation is 17.69%. When interpreting direct marginal effects, there is a change in the probability of all travelers choosing to use private cars through the congestion charging corridor of −0.0338, or a decrease of −3.38% for every IDR 1000 increase in the congestion charging levy rate, ceteris paribus.

Road users' attitudes towards transforming a flat rate cordon toll to a congestion charging system: The case of Oslo, Norway

The well-known Oslo cordon toll ring was transformed into a congestion charging scheme in 2017. The transformation implied higher toll rates during rush hours and lower rates during nonrush hours, and battery-driven electric vehicles (BEVs) were exempted from paying tolls as a means of enhancing the uptake of BEVs. This paper studies road users' attitudes towards the transformation that took place. The rationale is that studies examining road users' attitudes towards such transformations are lacking in the transportation literature. We use the results of a survey conducted a month after the transformation, and a question was added regarding users' attitudes towards the transformation. The dataset consists of 2005 responses. We use both descriptive statistics and logit-based regression analyses to assess the data. The results reveal that the average road user has a negative attitude towards the transformation, most likely because the transformation increased the travel cost for the average user. Our results add value to the literature and for researchers and policymakers who may want to consider similar transformations, and groups of users who need to be convinced of the usefulness of congestion charging are identified.

How does trip frequency distort time value to impact congestion charging schemes?

Abstract A notable feature of a city or region with close economic and social connections with its neighbours is its highly mixed local and external traffic, and in some cases the external traffic volume is almost as high as that of local traffic. Whilst local traffic volume may be largely made up of the same regular local commuters making frequent trips, external traffic from outside of the city (region) may not be the same people making regular trips to/from the city. However, from a large pool of people making infrequent trips to/from the city, the existence of external traffic is proven by data from the licence plate recognition system of road vehicles in Changde, China. The function of value of time correlated with the income/wage rate and trip frequency is exploited and verified statistically. The time value distorted by trip frequency is defined as perceived time value (PTV), which also influences the way travellers perceive any travel impedance such as congestion delay and toll charges. This paper analyses the price of anarchy (POA) when explicitly considering the travel frequency of the trip-makers and their PTV, and compares with previous analysis without considering travel frequency. We show that when travel frequency is considered, the optimal toll of congested road pricing schemes which converts road traffic flow from user equilibrium into system optimization is much lower than that without considering travel frequency. The cost of licence plate auction cannot be treated as a congestion toll, which is only a threshold of vehicle ownership. That travellers choose routes by PTV rather than TV (time value) is proven by an example of Heishipu Bridge in Changsha, Hunan Province, China.

Equity Impacts of the London Congestion Charging Scheme: An Empirical Evaluation Using Synthetic Control Methods

Congestion pricing has been long-believed to effectively regulate traffic in urban city centers. Practical implementations of such policies have been hindered by concerns that they would disproportionately and adversely affect low-income groups. This paper analyzes the impacts of two price increases to the congestion charge on different income groups in Central London, making use of the synthetic control method to leverage empirical data from the UK National Travel Survey. We estimate that the highest income earners contributed to more of the revenue than the lowest income earners, making the scheme progressive in the scale of its equity impact. Although high-income travelers appeared to drop more charge-eligible trips as the price increased, their total trips to Central London did not decrease, suggesting that they were able to substitute with non-chargeable modes of travel. Low-income travelers saw large declines across both chargeable and non-chargeable modes, revealing a much lower rate of substitution. The low-income group responded more to the 2011 price increase than the 2014 one, demonstrating the diminishing ability of subsequent price increases to regulate demand.

A comparative economic assessment of urban transport infrastructure options in low- and middle-income countries

Several innovative public transport (PT) projects have been developed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where cars, motorcycles and buses share the facilities. However, there seems to be very little evidence on assessment methods to analyse the feasibility of different PT modes and identify the most cost-effective mixed transport system. To address this issue, this study develops a comparative economic assessment (CEcoA) based on the PT technologies’ characteristics and the conditions of local transport networks. The assessment integrates four models. First, a social cost model (SCM), that calculates the social costs of each mode and mixed transport systems, is the key model in the assessment. Second, an incremental elasticity analysis (IEA) evaluates changes in total demand by using the demand elasticity with respect to a composite cost. The IEA solves the first drawback of the SCM that demand is assumed to be fixed. Third, an incremental logit model (ILM) estimates changes in modal shares with respect to generalised costs. The ILM overcomes the second disadvantage of the SCM, where preferences of users for all alternative transport modes are not considered. Fourth, a microscopic simulation model (MSM) simulates all existing transport modes’ flows on the local network. The MSM solves the third drawback of the SCM, which only considers an isolated corridor without any interaction between the different modes and any junctions. The assessment was applied to compare an existing mixed transport situation and twelve options with an introduction of new PT technologies (Bus Rapid Transit - BRT, elevated Metro and Monorail) replacing the existing bus services; either wholly or partially, and with or without a congestion charge scheme for private transport (PRV) on a corridor in Hanoi, Vietnam in terms of average social cost (ASC), total demand and PT share. The results show that eight options with BRT or Monorail or Metro are feasible, whilst the BRT option that replaces all existing buses and includes congestion charging is the best alternative in terms of ASC. Transport planners and decision makers can draw on the findings of this research. A congestion charge scheme might be considered for the local conditions to meet specific objectives such as a reduction in ASCs and an increase in modal share of PT. The CEcoA can be a strategic tool for not only planning new PT technologies on corridors in the whole network but also retrospectively evaluating investments of PT modes. Moreover, the methodology of the CEcoA might be applied and modified to various transport networks with an abundance of motorcycles to assess the costs and benefits of new PT modes and mixed transport systems with or without the congestion charge.

Forecasting with a joint mode/time-of-day choice model based on combined RP and SC data

The factors influencing trip departure time are taking more importance in urban planning practice since congestion is increasingly being addressed by travel demand management (TDM) strategies. In this paper we formulate and estimate a joint travel mode-departure time model for commuting trips using combined revealed preference (RP) and stated choice (SC) data. The RP data considered nine alternative modes and up to 11 time periods, and the level-of-service data were obtained at an unusual level of precision using GPS measurements. The travel time, cost and cost divided by the wage rate coefficients were fairly similar in both the RP and SC environments, suggesting equal error variances for both datasets. The only parameters that differed between each type of data were those associated with the schedule delay early (SDE) and late (SDL) variables required by Small’s Scheduling Model. This may be due to the potentially different temporal perspectives between RP choices (longer term decisions) and SC decisions, arguably shorter term given the nature of the experiment and the context presented in it (implementation of a congestion charging policy and a flexible working-hours scheme). The models were used to forecast the impacts of a hypothetic congestion charging scheme in Santiago, showing that the schedule delay coefficients derived from the SC context produced a smoother and less-peaked temporal distribution of travel demand than the RP parameters.

Affected area and residual period of London Congestion Charging scheme on road safety

The London congestion charging (LCC) scheme was first introduced in 2003. It did not only help alleviate traffic congestion and reduce vehicle emissions, but also had favorable safety effect. Western Extension of LCC was applied in 2007, but then removed in 2011. It was suggested that adjacent areas of the congestion charging zone could also be benefited. As well, the benefits would not disappear immediately after the removal of congestion charging scheme, which is known as residual effect. This paper attempts to examine the affected area and residual period of the safety benefits by the LCC scheme using the traffic and crash data from 352 Middle Super Output Areas (MSOAs) of London, with which the original LCC scheme was imposed in 24 MSOAs (‘treatment’ units for Analysis I), the Western Extension scheme was imposed in 27 MSOAs (‘treatment’ units for Analysis II), and no congestion charging was implemented at all in 301 MSOAs (‘control’ units for both Analysis I and II). Factors including traffic flow, land use, built environment and population demographics are considered. To eliminate the bias by the selection of treatment and control groups, Propensity Score matching (PSM) method is applied. Results indicate that favorable effect on safety is prevalent in the 1.5 km buffer area of LCC zone. On the other hand, for the residual effect, considerable crash reduction could be found in the first year after the removal of Western Extension of LCC. However, no evidence could be established for significant crash reduction in the second and third years after the removal. Findings should be indicative to the transport management policy that could improve the road safety in the Greater London in the long run.

Effect of London cycle hire scheme on bicycle safety

This study evaluates the effect of London Cycle Hire scheme (LCH) on bicycle crashes, based on the data from 333 Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs) in the period 2011–2012. The Propensity Score Matching method (PSM) is applied to evaluate the effects of policy interventions (‘treatment’) on bicycle safety, with which the effects of confounding factors on the treatment effects are accounted, using the systematically established untreated groups. Covariates including land use, traffic and population characteristics are considered when selecting the untreated group for each treated unit. Results of PSM indicated that numbers of overall and slight injury bicycle crashes increased by 37.7% and 31.8% when LCH was introduced. Additionally, the interaction by another transport management policy – London Congestion Charging scheme (LCC) – on the effects of LCH on bicycle crash was estimated. Numbers of overall and slight injury bicycle crash further increased by 59.1% and 57.8% because of the implementation of LCC. For the killed or seriously injured (KSI) bicycle crashes, increases were observed in both cases (i.e. 81% for LCH and 66% for LCC), despite that they are not statistically significant. Results are indicative to the design and planning of bicycle infrastructure that could enhance the overall bicycle safety in London.

Did the London congestion charge reduce pollution?

Recent vehicle charging schemes aim to reduce pollution and other congestion externalities. We reexamine the London congestion charge introduced in 2003 and demonstrate significant reductions in several pollutants relative to controls. We even find evidence of reductions per mile driven suggesting amelioration of a congestion externality. Yet, we find a more robust countervailing increase in harmful NO2 likely reflecting the disproportionate share of diesel vehicles exempt from the congestion charge. This unintended consequence informs on-going concern about pollution from diesel-based vehicles and provides a cautionary note regarding substitution effects implicit in many congestion charging schemes.

Urban Congestion Charging Acceptability: An International Comparative Study

The congestion charging scheme is regarded as a successful measure to reduce traffic-related problems. However, low general acceptability of the public for implementing such a scheme is a barrier against its success. In this research, an online pre-designed survey was conducted in five capitals (Budapest, Tunis, Amman, Ulaanbaatar, and Damascus) to define the factors that affect congestion charging acceptability the most. The results of relationships between the studied factors like travel behavior and acceptance of the congestion charging scheme show an irregular pattern in each city. It indicates that the identity of each city and its general policy implications determine which factors significantly affect the public acceptability of congestion charging scheme. In Amman and Budapest, most of the predictors have no statistical effect on the schemes’ public acceptability. Consistent with previous researches, on the other hand, the results demonstrate that the schemes’ effectiveness is crucial and affects the acceptability significantly in all cities. At the same time, it shows that the “prior scheme knowledge” factor has a significant direct effect on the acceptability level in three cities (Damascus, Tunis, and Ulaanbaatar).

The two-mode problem with bottleneck queuing and transit crowding: How should congestion be priced using tolls and fares?

This paper proposes a bi-modal bottleneck model with time-varying scheduling preferences for investigating the two-mode problem with bottleneck queuing and transit crowding. In the proposed model, the activity scheduling utilities of commuters at home and at work vary by the time of day, and two kinds of congestion externalities (i.e., traffic congestion among vehicles at the bottleneck and in-bus passenger crowding discomfort) are considered. Commuters choose their travel modes and departure times from home to work during the morning commute to minimize their own generalized travel cost. The properties of the proposed bi-modal bottleneck model are analytically explored. Particularly, the relationship between the departure intervals of auto and bus commuters is revealed. The time-varying charging schemes and step charging schemes for reducing the congestion externalities are also investigated. A critical condition for passenger shift from one mode to the other mode with congestion charging schemes is identified, and the effects of congestion charging schemes with and without internalizing the bus-related congestion externalities (including the bottleneck congestion externality induced by auto and bus interaction and the in-bus passenger crowding externality) on the bottleneck system are compared.

Segmenting travellers based on day-to-day variability in work-related travel behaviour

Travel needs for commute and business trips are complex and choices are not made based on the characteristics of individual trips, but instead based on the needs over weeks and months. For example, the cost per trip of commuting by bus varies depending upon the frequency of travel, and the cost of a monthly subway pass depends upon the number of zones visited during that period. Intrapersonal variability, namely the variation in an individual's travel behaviour from day to day, therefore shapes our transport choices and should influence service provision. Changes in working patterns such as increases in part time working, self-employment and tele-commuting challenge the traditionally held assumptions that work activities are fixed in time and space, thus making intrapersonal variability increasingly relevant. This research uses a data-driven approach to segment workers based on their work-related travel behaviour, including frequency of travel and both spatial and time of day intrapersonal variability. The analysis uses survey and seven day travel diary data for over 110,000 people collected over a 19 year period in England. Four groups of workers were identified: infrequent, spatially variable, temporally variable and regular travellers. These groups do not align closely with self-reported working arrangements such as self-employment or part time working. The group of regular travellers has decreased in size between 1998 and 2016 but remains the largest group, containing just under 60% of workers in 2016. Both the infrequent and spatially variable groups have grown over the same period. For a small but growing group of workers, a seven day diary is insufficient to understand their work-related transport needs as little or no work travel is recorded. These findings have implications for the design of public transport ticketing, the design of mobility as a service packages and the appraisal of congestion charging schemes.

Who are more likely to break the rule of congestion charging? Evidence from an active scheme with no referendum voting

Abstract Although previous studies have explored predictors of Congestion Charging (CC) acceptability and acceptance, there is no study investigating the rule-breaking behaviour towards a CC scheme. The current study thus examined the effects of a wide range of attitudinal factors as well as demographic, socioeconomic, built environment and travel-related characteristics on rule-breaking/following behaviour towards an ongoing CC scheme. Our major contribution to the state of the art is threefold: (a) we reveal the extent to which citizens break the rule of an active scheme and illegally drive through the CC area, (b) we simultaneously test the relative roles of several latent attitudinal and observed variables in the type of rule-breaking/following conduct in an integrated framework through developing a hybrid choice model, and (c) we empirically investigate how and to what extent the level of legitimacy of an active CC scheme appears in a city in the Middle East context, where politicians have neglected the direct participation of public via referendum voting in the policy process behind the introduction of the CC. A sample of car users was recruited during February and March 2019 in Tehran. A cross-sectional design using a self-report questionnaire survey was conducted. Out of 622 citizens participated in this study, 595 valid observations were used for analysis. Our findings showed significant difference between predictors for those frequently (mono-rule breakers) broke and those who rarely or occasionally (multi rule-breakers) broke the rule of CC. The finding also revealed that latent attitudinal factors could have greater impacts on rule-breaking behaviour than observed variables. Lack of trust in government concerning final use of CC revenues and a lower perceived effectiveness of the CC had the strongest influence on the probability of violating the CC rule. We suggested both short and long-term policies to deal with the issues of legitimacy and survival of the CC scheme. With regard to short-term policy, using media and social networks, the issue of complexity and lack of information about the charging system need to be well-addressed. Considering long-term policy, entrusting management system from governmental authorities to a private system as well as launching environmental campaigns could increase the public trust and effectiveness of the CC scheme, respectively.

Evaluating the impact of new congestion charging scheme using smartphone-based data: a spatial change detection study

Traffic congestion in urban areas is a challenging issue in transportation planning. Policy options have been proposed to evaluate the impacts of interventional action through change detection or before–after studies. In this research, low-cost traffic image data collected by smartphone-based application have been employed and the impact of new congestion charging scheme (CCS) upon congestion within congestion charging zone (CCZ) as well as the entire network in Tehran, the capital of Iran has been investigated. Applying statistical tests indicated the significance of change in congestion within CCZ by applying the new CCS. Differential Moran’s I as spatial autocorrelation index specified the spatial patterns of congestion between the critical time of changing the scheme on weekdays (17:00–19:00) and weekend (6:00–13:00) after implementing the new CCS. The approach in this paper can be used with a low-cost appropriate instrument to monitor the probable change in traffic congestion by introducing any new scheme or sudden change.

The role of transport supply in the acceptability of pollution charge extension. The case of Milan

Milan is one of the few cities in Europe where a congestion charge is in place. It was experimentally introduced at the beginning of 2008 as a pollution charge to enter the central area of Milan. During 2011, to confirm it and also to extend its scope, a city-wide referendum took place. Referendum results largely supported the extension.While we know well the economic rationale and the potential effects of such policies, the issue of acceptability is still quite unexplored and usually studied with limited interview campaigns, focus groups or theoretical assumptions. This referendum is an interesting occasion to study the real motivations of the acceptability of road pricing experiences in a consolidated context.This paper studies the determinants of the highly positive vote in favour of the extension of the former pollution charge into a congestion charge scheme. The scale of analysis is the aggregate result of the referendum at the neighbourhood level. The variables studied are the ideological orientation, some socio-economic variables, and the distance from the city centre. In contrast to the majority of existing literature, we also include in the analysis the effect of transport supply and previous mobility patterns, in order to verify if they were crucial to the voters’ acceptance of a road charge.

Novel Big Data-supported dynamic toll charging system: Impact assessment on Portugal’s shadow-toll highways

Traffic congestion is a huge problem in many countries. It affects not only the inner workings of cities but also the quality of life of the people that endure it. In Portugal, traffic congestion happens mainly on national/urban roads, and this phenomenon has increased since the introduction of the so called shadow-toll systems in highways that were free to use. This work proposes a toll charging system that relies on a novel dynamic congestion charging scheme, supported by state of the art Big Data technologies, in order to shift traffic from national/urban roads to tolled highways, taking into account not only the Quality of Service of the highways and national roads, but also the competitiveness of toll prices for users. This Intelligent Transportation System was tested and validated in a real-world scenario with one of the biggest freight logistics companies in Portugal and with the Portuguese public road infrastructure operator.

The tendency of public’s attitudes to evaluate urban congestion charging policy in Asian megacity perspective: Case a study in Jakarta, Indonesia

Urban congestion charging (CC) is regarded as a potentially powerful instrument aimed at changing road users’ travel behavior and achieving efficient infrastructure use. Yet, at the same time, implementing this policy is not easy. There are thoughtful barriers to the pursuit of the CC implementation. The public is skeptical about such a policy, so public rejection arises mainly among car users. The acceptability of a CC reflects public’s attitudes towards the scheme and public support is regarded as a prerequisite. Understanding this is crucial to any investigation of what might improve public acceptability. Given an absence of studies from the perspective of Asian megacities, a comprehensive stated choice (SC) survey is conducted in Jakarta, where CC scheme has been introduced and remain under consideration as a way to mitigate acute traffic congestion. A multiple-indicators multiple-causes (MIMIC) approach is applied to investigate causal paths among psychological determinants that representing public’s attitudes and their strength from psychological perspectives. Statistical findings depict that a CC acceptance can be influenced and explained by an individual’s psychological motivations such as perceived effectiveness and awareness of the proposed scheme. Psychological motivations including “awareness of the city’s environment” and “awareness of the problem of cars in society” appear to be the most important direct determinants leading to recognition of the effects of a CC scheme and they are indirect determinants of policy acceptance. Furthermore, the car-dependent society is seen as part of the problem in Jakarta, and people who are dependent on the car are more likely to understand that an effective policy is needed to address this problem. We found that people had explicitly mentioned “awareness of city’s environment” and “awareness of problem car in society” as the two most popular reasons for supporting the CC. Additionally, path analysis result on the effect of specific measure “trust in government policy” on the correct and acceptable policy has revealed a positive determinant. These indicate the important role of current government performance for achieving acceptability for CC proposal. Public marketing campaigns to promote CC are strongly recommended to focus on providing the public with credible and specific information related to perceived effectiveness and awareness (less congestion and a better environment).

The Gothenburg congestion charges: cost\u2013benefit analysis and distribution effects

This paper performs an ex-post cost–benefit and distribution analysis of the Gothenburg congestion charges introduced in 2013, based on observed effects and an ex-post evaluated transport model. Although Gothenburg is a small city with congestion limited to the highway junctions, the congestion charge scheme is socially beneficial, generating a net surplus of €20 million per year. From a financial perspective, the investment cost was repaid in slightly more than a year and, from a social surplus perspective, is repaid in < 4 years. Still, the sums that are redistributed in Gothenburg are substantially larger than the net benefit. In the distribution analysis we develop an alternative welfare rule, where the utility is translated to money by dividing the utility by the average marginal utility of money, thereby avoiding putting a higher weight on high-income people. The alternative welfare rule shows larger re-distribution effects, because paying charges is more painful for low-income classes due to the higher marginal utility of money. Low-income citizens pay a larger share of their income because all income classes are highly car dependent in Gothenburg and workers in the highest income class have considerably higher access to company cars for private trips. No correlation was found between voting pattern and gains, losses or net gain.