A congestion tax is levied on vehicles in urban areas where high vehicle usage is judged to be causing excessive pollution and traffic congestion.
Congestion charges have been in place in a number of other major cities notably including London, Berlin, and Singapore. New York City investigated a similar plan but didn’t have the courage to legislate.
In Australia, congestion charges have been proposed for Sydney, but the NSW Labor government’s only move in this direction was to increase the peak-time charge on the Harbour Bridge to $4.
Some suggest congestion charges work only when there is a viable alternative to driving cars into cities.
Public transport experts from major universities in Australia last year agreed that a congestion charge for Sydney and Melbourne should replace Australia’s current hidden fuel excise and vehicle registration fees and that revenue from congestion charging should be channelled back into transport sustainability.