University of Tennessee at Chattanooga UTC Scholar Student Research, Creative Works, and Honors Theses Publications 5-2016 The efficacy of congestion pricing Zachary J. Ridder University of Tennessee at Chattanooga,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.utc.edu/honors-theses Part of the Economics Commons Recommended Citation Ridder, Zachary J., "The efficacy of congestion pricing" (2016). Honors Theses. This Theses is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research, Creative Works, and Publications at UTC Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of UTC Scholar. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. The Efficacy of Congestion Pricing By Zack Ridder Departmental Honors Thesis The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Economics Department Project Direction: Dr. Leila Pratt Examination Date: 3/30/16 Examination Committee: Dr. Leila Pratt Dr. Bruce Hutchinson Dr. James Guilfoyle Dr. David Giles The Efficacy of Congestion Pricing By Zack Ridder 1 I. Introduction As the number of vehicles continues to climb road congestion will become a more prominent feature of urban centers and will likely worsen over time. This thesis will show that the most simple and effective way to combat congestion is the implementation of road pricing schemes in and around major metropolitan areas. For the most part the benefits of such a system outweigh the potential costs. These tolling systems force commuters to internalize the marginal social cost of driving, as opposed to only paying the average social cost and incurring a deadweight loss. This paper will first provide a review of the literature, tracing the theoretical development of congestion pricing from its early roots to modern studies.