Chapter 3 Review: Holding A Position

that congestion charging places a heavier burden on lower-income drivers, and this objection deserves a serious answer rather than a dismissal. , the evidence from cities that have adopted such schemes to show a clear fall in traffic volumes within two years. Opponents that the fall is temporary, but that claim rests on a single early study and is therefore on its own. , the strongest argument for the policy is not congestion at all but air quality, which affects the same low-income neighbourhoods most heavily. A charge is effective, blunt, and its weaknesses can be corrected: cities could discounted rates for residents, or the oldest and most polluting vehicles gradually rather than charging everyone equally from the first day. What matters is that authorities the revenue toward the bus network, since a charge that funds nothing simply taxes movement.