ABSTRACT
The fundamental reason for the existence of cities is that they enable high accessibility. High accessibility is associated both with economic gains such as higher wages and productivity and opportunities to satisfy specialised interests and lifestyles. The purpose of congestion pricing is to find a better balance between positive and negative effects of mobility. This chapter discusses how the theoretical idea can be applied in practice, and discusses how different cities have tackled this challenge. It gives a brief overview of the major operational urban congestion pricing schemes and summarizes the theory of congestion pricing, stressing the points that are important for applications. The chapter also discusses benefits and costs in practice and provides a summary of the vast literature of public and political opinions of congestion charges. It presents some speculations about the future of congestion pricing.
