Economics for Journal of Civil Engineering-myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theEconomics for Journal of Civil Engineering. Answer: "Rich people will carry on paying---it'll have no effecton them." The London Congestion Charge, which was implemented in 2003, for the vehicles operating in the Congestion Charge Zones of the region, is currently amounted to 11.50 pounds each day for those vehicles, which are of non-exempt vehicles. For non-payment a penalty of 65 to 195 pounds is imposed on the defaulter. This charge though seems moderately high for daily travelling, is not expected to affect the rich people of the country. The people falling in the uppermost income sector of the country, consisting of the upper ten percent of total population of the country, in terms of income, is seen to have an average income of 107,937 pounds. This in comparison to the bottom ten percent is huge as their average income is nearly 4,436 pounds (Dudley, 2013). Therefore, it is not a big deal for the richest section of the country to spend 11.50 pounds daily for their travelling purposes and the charge would not affect them significantly. They can also afford to buy all-electric cars, which are completely exempted. However, the upper middle class people of the region, though can afford the charge, will not be happily agreeing to pay the same and there will be some implications of the charge on their travelling habits (Givoni, 2012). "There should be an exemption for low paid and marketworkers." According to the currently existing rates in the Congestion Charge system in London, the non-exempted vehicles are charged an amount of 11.50 pounds daily for travelling in the Congestion Charge Zone. In addition to this the older vehicles, which contribute more to the pollution of the environment, under the rule, has to pay an extra amount of ten pounds over the usual charge of 11.50 pounds for traveling in the Congestion Charge Zone in this region (Zheng et al., 2014) . This is expected to be hurting for those low paid and usual market workers who need to travel in this region every day to earn their daily breads. Many of them use old cars and it may be too costly for them to buy new and less polluting vehicles to get exemptions. On the other hand, they may try to avail public transports in order to avoid paying the congestion charge. However, this on the other hand increases the congestion in the public transport and their availability may become a problem itself. Paying 11.50 pounds everyday can also be taxing on these low paid workers. In this context, exemptions or at least lower charges for these workers can be beneficial for them (Fan, 2015). References Dudley, G. (2013). Why do ideas succeed and fail over time? The role of narratives in policy windows and the case of the London congestion charge.Journal of European Public Policy,20(8), 1139-1156. Fan, W. (2015). Optimal congestion pricing toll design for revenue maximization: comprehensive numerical results and implications.Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering,42(8), 544-551. Givoni, M. (2012). Re-assessing the results of the London congestion charging scheme.Urban Studies,49(5), 1089-1105. Zheng, Z., Liu, Z., Liu, C., Shiwakoti, N. (2014). Understanding public response to a congestion charge: A random-effects ordered logit approach.Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice,70, 117-134.