00648244

Component

The objections to road pricing cited by policy makers, politicians, and the public and the reasons for rejecting road pricing could apply equally well to other "utility-like" goods or services such as telecommunications, transit, and electricity. In telecommunications, for example, pricing does not completely eliminate queueing, there has been excess capacity in the past, the network has been paid for, and there are few substitutes. High peak prices also discriminate against the poor. But peak-period premiums and off-peak discounts have become common or are being experimented with, and consumers seem to accept this with equanimity. What explains the acceptance of these situations? What analogies and contrasts among and between these situations help explain the acceptance and use of peak-period charges when they are applied, and what does this imply about the potential for use of congestion pricing on the roads in the United States? The answers to these questions are discussed in this paper. In separate sections, telecommunications, airports, transit, and electric utilities are examined for their institutional features, economic characteristics, and pricing strategies. The final section provides an assessment of the analogies and contrasts and a compendium of potential lessons to be learned for introducing peak pricing of roads.

This paper was presented at the TRB/CBASSE Congestion Pricing Symposium, June 23-24, 1993.

00648239

English

pp 115-151

1994

Transportation Research Board Special Report

0309055059

Print

References; Tables (10)

Airports; Congestion pricing; Electric utilities; Peak periods; Pricing; Public transit; Road pricing; Strategic planning; Telecommunications

Aviation; Economics; Highways; Public Transportation; Society; Terminals and Facilities; I10: Economics and Administration

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jun 23 1994 12:00AM

• ALTERNATIVE METHODS FOR MEASURING CONGESTION LEVELS
• CASHING OUT EMPLOYER-PAID PARKING: A PRECEDENT FOR CONGESTION PRICING?
• CONGESTION PRICING AND MOTOR VEHICLE EMISSIONS: AN INITIAL REVIEW
• CONGESTION TRENDS IN METROPOLITAN AREAS
• ELECTRONIC TOLL COLLECTION SYSTEMS
• EQUITY AND FAIRNESS CONSIDERATIONS OF CONGESTION PRICING
• HOW CONGESTION PRICING CAME TO BE PROPOSED IN THE SAN DIEGO REGION: A CASE HISTORY
• IMPACTS OF CONGESTION PRICING ON TRANSIT AND CARPOOL DEMAND AND SUPPLY
• INSTITUTIONAL AND POLITICAL CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING CONGESTION PRICING: CASE STUDY OF THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
• POTENTIAL OF CONGESTION PRICING IN THE METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON REGION
• POTENTIAL OF NEXT-GENERATION TECHNOLOGY
• PRICING URBAN ROADWAYS: ADMINISTRATIVE AND INSTITUTIONAL ISSUES
• PRIVATE TOLL ROADS: ACCEPTABILITY OF CONGESTION PRICING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
• THE NEW YORK REGION: FIRST IN TOLLS, LAST IN ROAD PRICING?
• THE POLITICS OF CONGESTION PRICING
• TRANSPORTATION PRICING AND TRAVEL BEHAVIOR
• URBAN TRANSPORTATION CONGESTION PRICING: EFFECTS ON URBAN FORM