TAX AND FEE MEASURES TO REDUCE TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN BANGKOK

Abstract

The congestion pricing is one of the policies for managing traffic demand. Although the technique to implement this measure can be both tax and fee, the research showed that it is more appropriate to levy a fee rather than a tax because the legislative and regulatory process is practically more flexible. Moreover, the imposition of fee can accommodate the nature of congestion pricing measure, since individuals directly and specially benefit from service rendered by a government in return of their fee payment. As there have not been any application of such measure to lessen the high traffic density arising in Bangkok, the fee collection as “congestion charge” should, therefore, be introduced to the inner city. The comparative study of international practices combining with the analysis of local context also suggested that the congestion charge can efficiently address the problem because it was specifically designed for managing the dense traffic area. Nevertheless, to deal with congestion challenge sustainably and systematically, other traffic demand management strategies must conjointly be required such as the quota control of new vehicles, the structural review of taxes and fees related to managing congestion, in parallel with the capability improvement of public transportation to encourage riders to shift from private vehicles at peak time to other effective modes.