Thursday 8 January 2015

2015 ahead

First to my readers, apologies.

2014 was a tough year personally with bereavement and family illness, and so it was difficult to dedicate the time and energy needed for this blog. Given this blog is a voluntary effort, and between family and work, I simply didn't want to spend the time required sitting in front of a screen to write about these issues as frequently as I would have wanted.

Quite a bit happened in 2014, with there being little let up in the growth of road pricing internationally, whether it be the opening of more toll roads in many countries, the addition/conversion of more HOT/toll lanes in the US (it is worth thinking why this is only happening in the US), and the incremental growth of network based charging in a few countries in Europe.  Meanwhile, interest in charging for driving in cities to address congestion and pollution continues to grow, with Asia being the new frontier.  While Jakarta has had some delays in progressing development of road pricing, Chinese cities are looking at such options.

At a high level it is worth noting what the big trends are, and I hope to write more regularly and look forward to any comments you may have.