Road tolling and congestion charging are increasingly being relied upon as suitable ways to provide additional revenue for transport improvements. Congestion charging is becoming more commonly accepted worldwide as a way of reducing traffic volumes in major cities. This method is now being implemented in a number of cities in developed nations. London, Oslo, Singapore and Stockholm may have been amongst the pioneers, but other cities are now considering schemes of their own. Lessons are being learned in the US too, with city authorities noting how congestion charging schemes in Europe have helped reduce traffic volumes and even pollution. However, European cities (as well as Singapore) have had a distinctive advantage in implementing congestion charging schemes due to the presence of well-established public transport networks. Many European cities also feature historic centres with narrow and twisting streets that long predate the introduction of motor vehicles, so urban dwellers have well understood the need to reduce traffic.
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