Article ID: | iaor20132020 |
Volume: | 40 |
Issue: | 2 |
Start Page Number: | 229 |
End Page Number: | 249 |
Publication Date: | Feb 2013 |
Journal: | Transportation |
Authors: | Manville Michael, King David |
Keywords: | public policy, California, congestion pricing |
Transportation analysts frequently assert that congestion pricing’s political obstacles can be overcome through astute use of the toll revenue pricing generates. Such ‘revenue recycling,’ however, implies that the collectors of the toll revenue will not be its final recipients, meaning that any revenue recipient must believe that the revenue collector will honor promises to deliver the money. This raises the potential for credible commitment problems. Promises to spend revenue can solve one political problem, because revenue is an easy benefit to understand, but create another one, because revenue is easy to divert. Revenue recycling may therefore