Did the London Congestion Charge Reduce Pollution?

Green, Colin and Heywood, John Spencer and Navarro Paniagua, Maria (2020) Did the London Congestion Charge Reduce Pollution? Regional Science and Urban Economics, 84: 103573. ISSN 0166-0462

Text (LondonCongestionCharge)
LondonCongestionCharge.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.
Download (611kB)

Abstract

Recent vehicle charging schemes aim to reduce pollution and other congestion externalities. We reexamine the London congestion charge introduced in 2003 and demonstrate significant reductions in several pollutants relative to controls. We even find evidence of reductions per mile driven suggesting amelioration of a congestion externality. Yet, we find a more robust countervailing increase in harmful NO2 likely reflecting the disproportionate share of diesel vehicles exempt from the congestion charge. This unintended consequence informs on-going concern about pollution from diesel-based vehicles and provides a cautionary note regarding substitution effects implicit in many congestion charging schemes.

Item Type:

Journal Article

Journal or Publication Title:

Regional Science and Urban Economics

Additional Information:

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Regional Science and Urban Economics. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Regional Science and Urban Economics, 84, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2020.103573

Uncontrolled Keywords:

/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2000/2002

Subjects:

?? pollutiontrafficcongestion chargingeconomics and econometricsurban studies ??

Departments:

Lancaster University Management School > Economics

ID Code:

148499

Deposited By:

ep_importer_pure

Deposited On:

26 Oct 2020 09:35

Refereed?:

Yes

Published?:

Published

Last Modified:

19 Nov 2024 01:57

URI:

https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/148499