REVIEW OF ROAD COST RECOVERY

Abstract

Efficient road pricing is required both to generate funds which may be used for roadworks and to ration the use of what is an expensive asset. The important elements of road pricing theory are outlined and these indicate that both the structure and level of charge are important in rationalising road use and optimising the role of road transport in our modern economy. Some recent road cost recovery studies are examined in the light of the principles outlined. Estimates are made of the costs of road use and level of cost recovery by class of road user. The calculations focus on those road costs which can be attributed to particular vehicle types, chiefly the damage caused to road pavements by heavy vehicles. Alternative approaches to the allocation of other road costs such as the costs of new road construction are discussed. The results show that while there is considerable over recovery of costs attributed to private motorists, operators of heavy vehicles pay only a small share, in terms of road user charges, of the costs incurred by their use of roads. The current imbalance in road cost recovery between motorists and operators of heavy vehicles is shown to be largely the result of the increasing reliance on fuel taxes as a source of revenue for roadworks. The current road pricing structure is discussed, in particular its disincentives for efficient road supply as well AS Efficient road use. The paper concludes with a discussion of the advantages, for both road investment and the economy in general, in moving away from fuel taxes towards a road pricing system more closely geared to the road costs incurred by individual road users (a).

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 10 citations exist upstream.