While many experts argue that mobility pricing would be the optimal solution to resolve the congestion problems in urban and sub-urban areas, it is often very difficult to find suitable places which would implement it without trials that display the effects. Trials on the other hand are often not carried out or postponed as there is no proper legislation or acceptance in the public yet.

A good example of this is the recent article about Mobility Pricing trials in Switzerland. So what are the actual positive and negative aspects of such solutions?

The Swiss UVEK paper explains its function from a policy perspective quite well.

Pros

• Can cut down too cheap mobility due to over-subsidies and non-inclusion of externalities
• Can cut peak hour congestion with dynamic pricing
• Can cut traffic in specific areas (e.g. streets with schools)
• Can lower overall mobility costs by enabling more fluent traffic, less infrastructure and maintenance investments

On the other side, there are also certain disadvantages:

Cons

• Privacy requirements are often annulled
• Implementation costs have costs almost half of the revenues in cases such as London or Malmö
• Political acceptance is often low and costs for enforcement can be high

What is your perception, would you want to implement mobility pricing solutions in your area?