Main results from the IMPRINT questionnaire

1
Main results from the IMPRINT questionnaire

• Andrea Ricci
• ISIS

2
The respondents ( 40)
By country of origin
By affiliation
3
Achievement level
4
Do we have enough knowledge and data to implement
pricing schemes?
Knowledge level
5
Are all modes equally mature for transport
pricing?
6
Main barriers

• Interurban road
• Lack of harmonisation, on both policy
  (international consensus) and technology
  (interoperability)
• Lack of strong and consistent political will
  (national and EU)
• Fuel excises do not account for the
  differentiation of environmental impacts
• Rail
• Finance (high costs of development and
  maintenance of infrastructure, insolvency of
  railway companies)
• Institutional and organisational
  under-development
• Lack of good data from operators
• Subsidisation leads to mis-representation of the
  relative costs of modes

7
Main barriers

• SSS and IWW
• Pricing concept is under-developed
• Inefficiency of the logistic chain
• Lack of data
• Low political priority (except for ports)
• Air
• Conflicts between international regulation and
  national interests
• Prevailing role of lobbies
• Urban
• Insufficient assessment of benefits (surplus
  distribution?)
• Complexity gt need for integrated approach
• No one-fits-all solution gt need for custom
  tailored schemes

8
Do you agree?

• Although uncertainties remain, we can measure
  marginal social cost sufficiently accurately to
  start implementing MSC-based pricing
• An institutional platform gathering operators and
  policy makers is needed to design possible
  pathways of institutional reform
• A pragmatic approach to pricing reforms is the
  most effective one it is possible to start with
  simple pricing schemes, although far from optimal
  prices and gradually introduce more sophisticated
  schemes.
• Implementation of road pricing could start even
  if a majority of the public is not in favour of
  it. In presence of a strong political willingness
  or of a champion, public opposition turns to
  acceptance once the scheme is successfully
  implemented.
• Implementation needs to be phased sequence of
  interventions is substantial and is likely to
  affect both the efficiency of the outcome
  situation and the relevance of the impacts
  (including social impacts) through the transition
  period.
• Acceptability of charges is linked not only to
  how much paying, but also to how paying
  simplicity and transparency of charges (how they
  are derived and their structure) is important to
  enhance public acceptability of reforms.

9
Do you agree?

• Transparency can be achieved through costs and
  expenditures reporting
• Acceptability demands policy packages, including
  clear commitments as to the use of revenue
• Coupling the objectives of achieving a more
  efficient infrastructure use and maintaining
  quality standards in service provision requires
  the adoption of wide packages of measures
  including pricing, investment and regulation
• Policy makers are not interested in the
  theoretical case for marginal cost pricing. It
  would be better to invest in trying to achieve
  reliable estimations of the benefits and their
  distribution, which can be more easily
  communicated
• There is a need of carefully considering the
  impacts of pricing reforms on peripheral
  countries, which are still an under-investigated
  area
• Key research needs to relate to scarcity of
  capacity on rail and at airports, equity and land
  use
• There is a need for common methodology in the
  UE15 as well as in the NAS countries
• A necessary pre-requisite for marketing SMC
  pricing in the NAS is to have strong and clear
  messages from the EU in terms of which is the
  model to follow, or at least the direction to
  take, seen that a universal solution does not
  exist

10
Consensus issues and further suggestions

• Policy
• National governments still have an important role
  to play
• Settling political divergences across MS is the
  top priority
• A regulatory framework must be established, also
  to avoid that lobbies prevail
• The most difficult step is to move from
  zero-price to any price
• Implementation must be pragmatic and phased, but
  each mode should proceed even if others are
  lagging behind
• Acceptance can be won over through strong
  political will, but the use of revenue is
  critical
• Reinforcing the message to politicians that
  research findings are robust and clear

11
Consensus issues and further suggestions

• Research and methodology
• Cost data could be improved (availability and
  reliability) through e.g. the introduction of
  standard collection formats and procedures
• Draw lessons (and evidence, data, etc.) from
  non-EU countries (e.g. USA)
• Urgent need for practical tools to support price
  setting
• Additional research is needed on impact
  assessment, including changes in users
  behaviour, impacts on industry and the economy at
  large (employment, etc.)
• A common methodology (incl. for NAS) is needed,
  but gradual convergence in the medium/long term
  is enough

12
Open and/or controversial issues

• Is MSC the best solution?
• Acceptability is directly geared to the
  capability of pricing schemes to increase the
  quality of service shouldnt price setting
  primarily reflect the level of service (although
  constrained by cost coverage and demand
  management requirements)?
• Should pricing schemes be the same across modes?
• Is capacity really a problem? (Vs better
  utilisation of existing capacity)
• The role and position of the EU should be
  clarified
• how can it push MS to comply with Directives?
• how can we cope with the apparent retreat from
  previously agreed principles?