Congestion Pricing and Sustainable Development of Urban Transportation System

The rapid growth in urbanization and motorization generally contributes to an urban transportation system that is economically, environmentally and socially unsustainable. The result has been a relentless increase in traffic congestion. Road congestion pricing has been proposed many times as an economic measure to fight congestion in urban traffic, but has not seen widespread use in practice because of Some potential impacts of road pricing remain unknown. The paper first reviews the concept of sustainable transportation system, which should meet the goals of economic development, environmental protection and social justice collectively. And then, based on the characteristics of sustainable transportation system, how congestion pricing can contribute to economic growth, environmental protection and social justice is examined. Examination result shows that congestion pricing is a powerful way to promote the sustainable development of urban transportation system.