Traffic Congestion: Some Economic Proposals
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X7104400114 |
| Author | R. S. Bates |
| Date | 01 January 1971 |
| Published date | 01 January 1971 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
INSPECTOR
R.
S.
BATES,
B.A. Econ.
Lincolnshire Constabulary
Inspector Bates attended the Special Course at the Police College,
Bramshill, and was awarded a Bramshill Scholarship to the University
of
Manchester, where he took an Honours degree in Economics.
TRAFFIC
CONGESTION':
SOME
ECONOMIC
PROPOSALS
The Kinds of Cost
Traffic congestion is an increasing problem in today's society, not
least for the Police Service, whose manpower is already strained to
the utmost. Are there ways in which it can be relieved? Motorways,
ringroads, underpasses,
f1yovers,
one-way systems and so on may
ease or remove bottlenecks in some places, but the tide of traffic
flows faster and more thickly to the urban centres of the country.
What other answer is there? One point
of
view is that of the transport
economist. He may see it as a question of tackling the number of
vehicles in the congested areas as opposed to trying to make things
easier for the existing vehicle population.
It
is, in effect, a matter of
road pricing. The basic case for an economic road pricing system is
that
prices must reflect costs in order for resources to be efficiently
distributed. The costs
of
making ajourney are of two kinds, private
and
social. The private costs
of
ajourney are simply those which the
user is obliged to meet himself, for example, the costs of fuel and
wear
and
tear on the vehicle. The social costs are those which are
imposed on other road users, and I confine my remarks solely to
congestion costs, ignoring such things as increased accident risks,
noise and traffic fumes.
Congestion occurs when one road user impedes the movement of
another. There are no congestion costs if the number of vehicles on
the road in question is so few
that
no one extra vehicle coming on to
the
road
affects the costs
of
travelling
of
any other. In heavily popu-
lated
urban
centres, this is rarely the case. If another vehicle user
comes on to an already congested road, his private costs will be
higher than they would be on an uncongested road. His vehicle
consumes more fuel, there is greater wear and tear on his brakes,
clutch and tyres, and his time has a value which must also be con-
sidered. However, the new arrival not only has higher than usual
private costs,
but
he raises the private costs of the other users already
on the road. His presence slows the traffic down
that
much more,
increasing the fuel consumption
of
every other vehicle, and the wear
and
tear on the brakes, clutch and tyres
of
these other vehicles and
also adding to the time spent by each driver on his journey.
It
is these
costs which are termed social costs.
72 January
/97/
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