Hungary - Budapest unlikely to introduce congestion charge in short term
Following on from the report last year that the Hungarian Government had suspended development of a congestion pricing scheme for Budapest (which had received money for its metro system from the European Commission contingent on introduction of such a scheme), Caboodle reports that the Budapest Public Transport Centre, CEO David Vitezy, says that it wont happen in the next two to three years.
He says that until there is more public transport capacity, it can't be done. He wants the fourth metro line (under construction) and some new tram lines built first. I'm slightly curious about this, given Budapest functioned for many years with the existing public transport network and much less car traffic, and has had relatively static/declining public transport usage for some years.
However, I suspect the politics around this are too difficult for now.
India - Andhra Pradesh state may establish hypothecated roads fund
According to The Hindu, the Andhra Pradesh Road Development Corporation (APRDC) is considering replicating what has been done in four states (Assam, Kerala, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh), by setting up a dedicated roads fund which would receive revenue from motoring specific taxes. The primary reason being to allow for better quality and longer term funding decisions on road infrastructure, than ad hoc annual funding decisions competing with other public spending. In addition, it is intended to support the autonomy and accountability of the APRDC in delivering improvements to the network. Taxes on motor vehicle ownership and fuel, tolls, and other revenue sources may be dedicated to the roads fund. A key priority is to fund major safety improvements to reduce the high accident and road fatality rate on the state's roads.
USA - Texas - article on tolling
The Texas Tribune has an excellent four part series of articles on toll roads in the state.
- Part One. Includes an interactive map of toll roads in Texas, which looks like not much given the size of the state, but are clustered around major cities.
- Part Two. Describing the rise of tolling in Texas. Noting that fuel taxes have not risen in Texas in 20 years, that more than 150 miles of toll roads have been built in the past six years and the growth in private sector interest in building, owning and operating such roads.
- Part Three. Focusing on HOT and other toll lanes in Texas.
- Part Four. On the failed Trans-Texas Corridor proposal and what came after.
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