Citizens, consumers and the acceptability of road pricing

Although road pricing has been shown to provide overall benefits to both the economy and society, widespread public acceptance has remained elusive. By drawing from recent transport research, this paper analyses the conflicts which people face between their desire to be good citizens and their aspirations as consumers. It also shows how evolving social attitudes and consumer behaviour create new opportunities for the delivery of publicly acceptable approaches to road pricing. These approaches could also support emerging carbon trading markets. The debate on the acceptability of road pricing has been dominated by the conflict of views between proponents of schemes and opponents of the principle. There is much greater potential for scheme promoters to target delivery at consumers who support road pricing. Incremental growth in road pricing markets can then allow acceptance of road pricing and its delivery to proceed in tandem.