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Who will be affected by a congestion pricing scheme in Beijing?

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  • Linn, Joshua
  • Wang, Zhongmin
  • Xie, Lunyu

Abstract

Equity concerns have been an important obstacle to adopting congestion pricing, in both developed and developing countries. However, the existing evidence on the equity effects of congestion pricing has come only from developed countries. In this paper, we shed light on the distributional consequences of a congestion pricing scheme currently under consideration in Beijing. We find that under this scheme, which covers the areas within the city's third ring road, a very small proportion of motorized trips would be subject to the full congestion charge. The directly affected individuals typically have higher household incomes and are wealthier than individuals who are not directly affected by the congestion pricing scheme. This finding reflects the fact that individuals who drive to work in Beijing are relatively wealthy. More important, we find that the Suits index for the congestion charge is 0.027, indicating that the congestion charge is slightly progressive.

Suggested Citation

  • Linn, Joshua & Wang, Zhongmin & Xie, Lunyu, 2016. "Who will be affected by a congestion pricing scheme in Beijing?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 34-40.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:47:y:2016:i:c:p:34-40
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2015.12.006
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    Cited by:

    1. Yang, Binyu & Tian, Yuan & Wang, Jian & Hu, Xiaowei & An, Shi, 2022. "How to improve urban transportation planning in big data era? A practice in the study of traffic analysis zone delineation," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 1-14.
    2. Yaping Li & Zheng Liu & Shiqing Zhang, 2023. "Joint Impacts of Pricing Strategies and Persuasive Information on Habitual Automobile Commuters’ Travel Mode Shift Responses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-19, January.
    3. Weichang Kong & Dorina Pojani & Neil Sipe & Dominic Stead, 2021. "Transport Poverty in Chinese Cities: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-24, April.
    4. Ren, Tao & Huang, Hai-Jun, 2020. "A competitive system with transit and highway: Revisiting the political feasibility of road pricing," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 42-56.
    5. Liao, Feixiong & Tian, Qiong & Arentze, Theo & Huang, Hai-Jun & Timmermans, Harry J.P., 2020. "Travel preferences of multimodal transport systems in emerging markets: The case of Beijing," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 250-266.
    6. Li, Yaping & Guo, Yuntao & Lu, Jian & Peeta, Srinivas, 2019. "Impacts of congestion pricing and reward strategies on automobile travelers’ morning commute mode shift decisions," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 72-88.
    7. Zhenjun Zhu & Zhigang Li & Hongsheng Chen & Ye Liu & Jun Zeng, 2019. "Subjective well-being in China: how much does commuting matter?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 1505-1524, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Congestion pricing; Distributional concerns; Equity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies

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