ELECTRONIC ROAD PRICING - AN IDEA WHOSE TIME MAY NEVER COME

Hong Kong's experiment with electronic road pricing showed that the technology was completely feasible. However, the government was unable to implement the scheme due to strong opposition from a public that perceived it as an invasion of privacy and a tax increase. This outcome was partly a result of forces unique to Hong Kong's political culture as well as both strategic and tactical errors made by the Hong Kong government in presenting its proposal. However, the Hong Kong experience also raises serious questions about whether a sophisticated road pricing scheme will ever be acceptable in a democratic urban polity.