Key messages
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Revenues from congestion charges can be significant. They can facilitate additional investment in better public transport. The economic case for public transport spending appears strong in Israel, and making a link will strengthen public support. Using revenues to cut car ownership taxes may help with acceptability by the public, but could weaken the contribution of these taxes to achieving environmental and mobility policy objectives. The result would be a net tax cut for those driving outside zones and hours where the congestion charge applies, but not for those paying the charge. Accompanying measures should be considered. These could include near-term improvements in the quality of bus services, the current main
public transport service in Israel, measures to facilitate uptake of carpooling potential (national regulations currently restrict the development of ride sharing apps for profit) and improvements in the environment for cycling through traffic calming and reservation of space for cycle lanes. Other accompanying measures include allowing municipalities to set higher parking prices and removing income tax exemptions for fringe benefits that encourage car use. l
Public acceptance will be facilitated by clarity on the objectives of the charging scheme and by engagement with the public and the business community on the cost of congestion and what might be done to tackle it. This includes providing information on the rationale and benefits of the proposed scheme, communication linking the introduction of congestion charges with more investment in public transport, easy-to-understand metrics to show users the impact of the scheme and a design of the charge that addresses equity concerns while effectively improving peak hour driving conditions.
KEY MESSAGES . 5