Congestion charges are repeatedly mentioned! Why is it difficult to levy？ Can it really be blocked？
This article was transferred from [China News Network];
Some experts in the industry pointed out that congestion charges should not be discussed and considered separately, but comprehensive policies should be considered for the purpose of alleviating congestion.
On December 7, the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission said that the relevant departments of Beijing will further study and demonstrate other policy suggestions such as congestion charges and suburban licenses in combination with the implementation of the overall urban planning.
When this statement came out, it once again triggered public concern about congestion charges. Some people exclaimed: Does this mean that congestion charges are coming?
Congestion fee, "only hear the voice but not the person"
The so-called congestion charge refers to the price adjustment means of charging a certain fee to road users in some areas during the traffic congestion period. In fact, Beijing has been studying congestion charges for ten years.
As early as December 2010, Beijing introduced 28 measures to alleviate traffic congestion, and "researched and formulated traffic congestion charging schemes for key congested road sections or regions, and implemented them at the right time", which was the first time that the topic of collecting congestion fees appeared.
Data map. China News Agency issued Liu Zhen photo
Since then, the Beijing Clean Air Action Plan for 2013-2017, released in September 2013, requires the Beijing Municipal Commission of Communications and the former Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau to take the lead in "studying the congestion charges levy scheme for urban low-emission areas". This indicates that the congestion charge has officially entered the official topic, but the wording of the implementation scope has changed from the previous congested road sections and areas to urban low-emission areas.
After 2013, news related to congestion charges will be reported almost every year. For example, at the beginning of 2014, when the former Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau issued the Detailed Rules for the Supervision of Mobile Pollution Sources in the City in 2014, the media reported that this policy would be completed in 2014 and implemented in 2015 at the earliest.
Up to now, reports of congestion charges have appeared in newspapers from time to time, but they still "only hear their voices but not their people". What is the difficulty in collecting congestion charges? This may be found in some official statements in the past.
Rong Jun, spokesman of the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission, said during the two sessions in Beijing in 2017 that there is no timetable for the implementation of the congestion charge policy, and the policy involves a wide range, and the government will carefully study it. It is uncertain whether it is called congestion charge, emission reduction charge or both. In addition, it is necessary to fully study the specific charging methods, technical paths and charging areas.
To whom and how?
Different experts have different views on the charging methods and technical means of congestion charge.
Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the All-China Federation of Riders, told the reporter of Zhongxin.com that the congestion fee should be mainly levied on the congested roads in the main city, and the collection targets are mainly vehicles entering and leaving the main city, and it should be levied according to the standards such as the length or times of travel, and at the same time, it should be taken care of for some special circumstances, such as the travel of residents in the main city, commuting and so on.
"At the beginning of the congestion charge collection, the collection standard should be relatively low. For short-frequency trips, exemption conditions can be appropriately provided. For long-term occupation of road resources, congestion charges can be collected through the accumulation of times or time, which basically does not increase travel costs for ordinary people." Cui Dongshu said.
Data Map: Buses and private cars driving on the roads in Beijing. China News Service reporter Jia Tianyong photo
"’Charging by time section’ can effectively control congestion." Xue Zhaofeng, an economist, said in an interview that the specific method is to set the driving speed of "moderate congestion" first. With this as the goal, the congestion rate of roads will be adjusted in real time, publicized by electronic display boards and wireless broadcasting, and the license plates of passing vehicles will be recorded by cameras, and the congestion fee will be notified and collected afterwards. After a period of adjustment, the congestion rate at different time periods will be stabilized, and the car owners can form more accurate expectations and make the travel demand more reasonable.
In 2020, the topic that has been delayed for ten years has been brought up again. Is it time to collect congestion charges?
Cui Dongshu believes that the technical means of collecting congestion charges in the past were immature, but now with the development of vehicle identification system, ETC and other technologies, the conditions have been met. Moreover, on the basis of private cars in the past, the occupation of road resources by online car is also very serious, so vehicles that occupy more road resources should bear certain congestion fees.
Cui Dongshu also pointed out that comprehensive measures should be taken to alleviate traffic congestion. Congestion fee is an important measure, but it should be matched with the improvement of public transport capacity, otherwise it will not be effective to only collect money, and the opinions of ordinary people will be great.
Data Map: Passengers take a bus in Beijing in an orderly manner. China News Service reporter Jia Tianyong photo
World experience of congestion charge
Congestion fees have been practiced all over the world for a long time. How are they collected and what is the effect of alleviating congestion?
The first country in the world to implement congestion charge is Singapore. Since 1975, in the control area of 6 square kilometers in the city center, if vehicles with fewer than 4 passengers enter the area from 7: 30 to 10: 15 in the morning, they must show their purchased traffic permits, and the license price is about 2.5 US dollars/day (1.3 US dollars/day in the first few years).
In international metropolises, congestion charges has been levied in London, England since 2003. The charging standard is that every car enters the toll area and pays a one-time "entry fee" of 5 pounds per day. After several price adjustments, the congestion charges in London has risen to 11.5 pounds.
After the implementation of congestion charge in Singapore, the traffic volume entering the control area has dropped by about half and remained at a low level. However, the situation in London is just the opposite. After the introduction of the congestion charges levy scheme, the income in 2007 reached 800 million pounds. However, the traffic situation has not improved, only at the beginning of the congestion charge, but the policy continued to be congested soon after implementation, and even the more it was collected, the more it was blocked.
According to Zhao Jian, a professor at the School of Economics and Management of Beijing Jiaotong University, the success of the Singapore model is due to the small land area and the earliest charging in a small area of 6 square kilometers. The principle of "who uses and pays" is easy to operate in practice. "Beijing is now full of congestion with tidal characteristics, and it is difficult to define the charging area and time of congestion charges."
Data Map: A beijing subway changping line train enters Shahe Higher Education Park Station. China News Service reporter Hou Yushe
Alleviating congestion requires comprehensive measures
From the public’s point of view, if the congestion charge is charged, the travel experience has not improved, which is obviously unacceptable.
Some experts also have doubts about the implementation effect of congestion charge. Zhi Zhenfeng, a researcher at the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, had previously worried that "after the congestion charge is levied, the intensity of car use in Beijing will decrease accordingly, and the pressure on public transportation will increase. If the public transport transfer and congestion are not improved, the car will be forced to the road again. "
In response to this concern, some experts in the industry pointed out that congestion control should not be discussed and considered separately, but should consider comprehensive policies for the purpose of alleviating congestion.
"Has the existing policy been used to the extreme? Is there room for improvement? Compared with other measures, which one is better? Congestion fee is a controversial and last resort, and there is no need to discuss such specific issues as charging methods. " Cheng Shidong, director of the Urban Transportation Office of the Comprehensive Transportation Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, told the reporter of Zhongxin.com.
During the two sessions of the National People’s Congress in 2016, Yang Chuantang, Party Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, once said that to solve the traffic problems in big cities, it is necessary to "combine unblocking with comprehensive management".
Yang Chuantang said, "First of all, we should give priority to the development of urban public transport, and promote the optimization of public transport to become a public travel habit. Second, we should strengthen the guidance of transportation planning, and establish a model of urban development oriented by urban public transportation through integrated transportation planning and comprehensive development and construction. Third, we should speed up the system construction of urban intelligent transportation and improve the level and operational efficiency of urban traffic management. Fourth, we must strengthen the comprehensive management of urban traffic to improve the utilization efficiency of traffic resources. "
Buses on the streets of Beijing. Zhongxin.com reporter Zhang Xu photo
Cheng Shidong also holds a similar view. He believes that the root of congestion lies in the lack of road resources, so we should encourage everyone to use green modes of travel such as public transportation and bicycles and drive as little as possible. In order to achieve this goal, the government should better provide public basic services, tap the potential of public transportation, increase the proportion of bus lanes, form a network, and improve the right of way of public transportation; The construction of rail transit should also be continuously promoted to meet the needs of the people; There is still much room for improvement in the cycling experience of bicycle lanes.
Cheng Shidong said, "77% of Manhattan residents don’t buy a car, and the proportion of Hong Kong residents buying a car is a quarter of that of Beijing. On the one hand, the reason is that these two cities have done a good job in public transportation, and people don’t need to buy a car; On the other hand, a parking space in Hong Kong is 2 million Hong Kong dollars, and Manhattan is also very high. Marketization of parking fees is an economic means to reduce congestion, which I think is better than charging congestion fees. "
"The collection of congestion charges is a means to be considered after all the means to control congestion have been exhausted." In Cheng Shidong’s view, "policies need to be compared. If people’s needs are met by improving public transport capacity, or if road users pay their due price by means of marketization of parking fees, congestion can be alleviated, and there is no need to implement congestion charges. "
What do you think about whether congestion charges should be levied in big cities?
Author: Zhang Xu
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