Paper Details

TRB 91st Annual Meeting (January 22-26, 2012)

Event Number:	733
Event Title:	Addressing Equity in Generating Transportation Revenues
Event Date:	Jan 25 2012 10:15AM- 12:00PM
Event Location:	Hilton, International West
Event Description:
Event Agenda:	In order to meet transportation investment needs, various options for funding must be carefully considered. This session will examine the importance of equity and fairness in the ways transportation revenues are generated, particularly in regard to the distribution of benefits and costs, and how such distributions could be considered appropriate.

Equity Implications of Parking Taxes (12-0525)

While a considerable amount of research has been conducted into the economic benefits of various congestion pricing measures—including parking taxes—there has been a comparatively smaller focus on the equity implications of such initiatives. However, as the policy debate shifts from the theoretical benefits of congestion pricing to the acceptability issues associated with the implementation of these measures, concerns regarding the equity of various proposals are increasingly being raised. This paper starts with an overview of the Melbourne congestion levy, which was introduced in 2006 on off-street parking spaces within the inner city. The paper subsequently defines what equity means in the context of congestion pricing generally and reviews previous empirical findings on the equity issues associated with parking taxes. The paper then explores the extent to which the Melbourne congestion levy can be considered equitable, and considers whether the tax may, inadvertently, be disadvantaging certain groups. The paper finds that a significant proportion of drivers who are contributing to the congestion problem either do not pay the congestion levy or have their parking costs, including the cost of the levy, paid for by their employer. These findings raise both horizontal and vertical equity concerns.

Authors
     Hamer, Paul , Monash University, Australia
     Currie, Graham , Monash University, Australia
     Young, William , Monash University, Australia