ITS Monday: Edition 24, 2026

Ready to begin: Driving towards the best and steering away from the worst in road pricing policy reform

A new academic paper, co-authored by Matthew Beck, Michiel Bliemer, and John Rose. The abstract:

Declining revenue from traditional road funding sources, rising infrastructure costs, and the transition to electric vehicles have increased the urgency of road user charging reform as a key demand management strategy. While such schemes can improve transport system efficiency by pricing congestion and other externalities, their implementation requires careful balancing with concerns around fairness and affordability. Public acceptability therefore remains a critical constraint on policy adoption.

This paper examines which policy features most strongly influence support for road user charging and how these preferences can inform the design of policies that advance efficiency, fairness, and affordability objectives. A best worst scaling approach is used to elicit the relative importance of policy features, with choices modelled using a hybrid choice framework that captures both observed preferences and underlying attitudes.

Three distinct behavioural classes are identified, reflecting differing priorities related to efficiency, fairness and consistency, and broader public benefit. Across these groups, governance and institutional arrangements are central to perceived legitimacy. Features such as public ownership, not for profit operation, independent investment decision making, and transparent revenue use are strongly preferred, while more complex pricing mechanisms are viewed less favourably.

The findings highlight the importance of trust, fairness, and affordability in supporting effective and acceptable reform.

‘A new trajectory’: EVs now almost quarter of Australia’s new car sales as fuel crisis bites

“In addition to elevated fuel prices and uncertainty as a result of the conflict in Iran, Australia’s EV growth is also being driven by legislative changes under the federal government’s vehicle efficiency standard”

Related iMOVE articles:

• Electric Vehicles: Info, Projects & Resources
• The Conductor Series: The electrification of transport

Related iMOVE projects:

• Leading the charge in bi-directional charging
• Utrecht to Australia: Unlocking scalable, low-cost V2G
• Being a V2G trailblazer: Lessons for mass market adoption

Electric cars are taking off in Australia. Charging stations are the next challenge

“The rapid shift is a major tailwind for efforts to slash exhaust pipe emissions, which are polluting the atmosphere and dangerously heating the planet. But it is also exposing the next challenge in Australia’s energy transition that governments and companies must confront. The trouble is no longer convincing motorists to buy more electric vehicles, Akhtar explains, but ensuring the nation can build enough new charging spots – in the right places and in a fast-enough time frame – to cater for them all.”

The Transit Abundance Playbook

This collection of resources is from a USA think tank, the Institute for Progress. Collected on the page are 15 ideas to bring costs down and speed projects up. “The United States once led the world in transit construction. Today, we lead in transit construction costs. This playbook offers policy solutions so the American public can stop paying more for less.”