3: Acceptability of Road User Charging: Meeting the Challenge

In many areas of transport policy and practice, pricing is an integral part of service planning and delivery, and is generally accepted without question. The use of a public transport service (bus, rail, air), for example, normally requires the payment of a fare, which makes a contribution to the costs of provision. The fare level may be varied by time of day or day of week, in order to influence patterns of demand (e.g. off-peak discounts) and/or to maximise revenue (Ramsey pricing), again with the general acceptance of the travelling public. The same is true in relation to many aspects of private car travel: drivers purchase motor vehicles and maintain them, and pay for the fuel required to propel them¹. In most parts of Europe, there is also widespread acceptance of the principle of paying tolls in order to use major new road infrastructure, especially tunnels and bridges.