The Funding of Urban Transportation and the Issue of Road Pricing

This paper addresses the issue of funding and pricing urban transportation, adopting a perspective coming back to the roots of the funding crisis in the 70's. The history of urban transportation systems seems to oscillate between paralysis and a financial disaster. This structural weakness is analyzed as the outcome of a conflict between individual and collective satisfaction. Different kinds of responses of the public authorities are assessed, whether financial ones at the risks of huge deficits, allocation of road space to public transport at the risks of reducing overall transport speed, or charging for road use in urban areas. Modelling exercises, assessment of ongoing schemes, efficiency issues as well as acceptability issues are considered in order to discuss the relevance of this last option.