The Experience of Urban Toll Cordons in Norway: Lessons for the Future

Urban toll cordons are operated in three Norwegian cities (Bergen, Oslo, and Trondheim). Both technically and in terms of fulfilling stated objectives, the toll cordons have been a success. Revenue from tolling has reached or exceeded expectations and projects financed by toll revenue have been completed on schedule and without major cost overruns. It is now proposed to extend the scheme and to consider toll rates differentiated by time of day. Estimates indicate that the social benefits of moving to differentiated toll rates in Oslo may approach NOK200 million on an annual basis. A recent amendment to the Road Act has paved the way for an alternative: road pricing. As opposed to tolling, the revenue from road pricing need not be allocated to road projects. The implications of these proposals are considered in this paper.