Does a "city toll" do more harm than good? The Ifo Institute has examined the consequences of such a fee for Munich and has come to the conclusion: There is no cause for alarm.
Driving your car in the city center is convenient, but often leads to traffic jams. This not only costs time and nerves, it also pollutes the environment. One idea: drivers who want to go into the city are asked to pay. Using Munich as an example, the Ifo Institute examined the effects of an "anti-traffic jam fee". The bottom line: It would noticeably reduce car traffic – and retailers and restaurants can calmly face such a fee.
The background: In 2018 alone, people in Munich spent 140 hours in traffic jams. Converted into monetary values, this corresponds to around 2500 euros per person, according to the study. "The problem with this is that the individual drivers do not take into account that their own journey also incurs considerable costs for other people and companies," the researchers said.
An "anti-traffic jam fee", which is also being discussed as a "city toll", is intended to make driving a car in the city center more expensive and therefore less attractive compared to the alternatives – and thus reduce car traffic. The Ifo Institute recommends putting the revenue from the fee into local public transport. That would increase the traffic-directing effect of the fee. "Part of the revenue could also be used to cushion social hardship. This also makes an anti-traffic jam fee more socially balanced than other measures," it said.
"Such a fee would also be conceivable for other cities in Germany," said Oliver Falck, author and head of the Center for Industrial Organization and New Technologies at the Ifo Institute. "We suspect that the results can also be transferred to other congested cities." He named Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Cologne, Hanover, Bremen and Frankfurt as particularly congested cities besides Munich. A fee would always have to be adapted to the local conditions, said Falck.
According to the researchers, Singapore, London and Stockholm, for example, have had positive experiences with charging models: "Road traffic has been reduced by between 15 and 44 percent over several years. considerably back.
More expensive parking
An "anti-traffic jam fee" is particularly successful if parking is also made more expensive. A mere increase in parking fees, however, is not enough. "An increase in the existing parking fees in the parking license areas to ten euros per day, as is currently being tested, would have virtually no traffic-directing effect. However, if one were to combine the higher parking fees with a price for flowing traffic of six euros per day, one could Reduce car traffic within the Middle Ring by more than 23 percent on average over the entire day, and by 33 percent at peak times. "
This is mainly due to the fact that many drivers would switch to buses and subways. "The number of trips to the city center across all modes of transport would, however, only decrease slightly. As a result, the demand for local public transport would increase and there would be bottlenecks on individual routes," the study says. Therefore countermeasures must be taken with the expansion of local public transport.
The reduced car traffic would relieve the roads considerably and the speed would increase, according to the researchers. Commercial traffic also benefits from this. "The travel time within the Middle Ring would be reduced by 7.5 percent here, and by more than 10 percent at peak times."
"All in all, the introduction of an anti-traffic jam fee for downtown Munich would be a recipe for success," is the conclusion of the study. Workplaces, shops, leisure activities and customers could be reached faster and more reliably again. In addition, the exhaust gases, the noise and the stress would be reduced. This would also benefit the retail trade – Munich as a business location would become even more attractive and productive overall.
Delivery traffic saves time
According to the researchers, retailers and restaurants do not have to fear an "anti-congestion fee". It would not noticeably affect the journeys into and within the city center. "Customers would switch to other means of transport for shopping and leisure trips – without any negative effects on the turnover of the businesses in the city center, as is shown, for example, by the experience with fee solutions in London or Stockholm," it continues.
Such a fee would even be positive for retail and tourism in the long term, according to the Ifo Institute. Because it reduces traffic jams and thus relieves traffic considerably. "Drivers, whether customers, tourists or delivery traffic, save time; stress, noise and emissions are reduced. Productivity increases and the city center becomes even more attractive."
However, the specific design of the "anti-traffic jam fee" is also important, according to the researchers. They suggest a daily flat rate for weekdays that allows several trips to the priced zone. "This benefits both private individuals who shop after work and, above all, business and delivery traffic."
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