We can't get there from here : Why pricing traffic congestion is critical to beating it

These policies are key components of the transportation puzzle: they increase the overall capacity of the Congestion pricing is an essential—but transportation system and can reduce congestion in the short term. [...] An alternative approach is to determine a socially optimal level of traffic flow in urban areas, and accordingly a level of congestion that balances the benefits of a high volume of movement with the costs of reduced mobility (Litman, 2015a). [...] According to a review of municipal revenue tools by the British Columbia Ministry of Community, Sport, and Cultural Development (Government of British Columbia, 2012), Metro Vancouver and the City of Toronto are the only two cities with the explicit authority over road tolling. [...] In the case of congestion pricing, this would mean that the toll could not exceed the capital and operating costs of the infrastructure. [...] But the Eurig decision established that the fee must only have a “reasonable relationship” with the costs of the service (Office of the Auditor General of Ontario, 2009).