Congestion charging sign in London
We have provided support to think tank Centre for London to look at what the next generation of road pricing in London could look like, with the aim of providing advice to guide future leaders about the direction and principles of road pricing in the city.

Defining the strategy

Our work in this space starts with understanding strategy and objectives. In every town or city, the existing road network will reflect a mix of historical decisions, physical constraints, earlier planning trends and decisions and many other factors. Cities and towns are not static though – and our strategy work aims to bring together the many dynamics that shape life and work in a location, and help clients to develop a strategy that reflects the future experience they want to achieve.

Responding to incidents

Sometimes optimisation is about ensuring quick responses to identifying and mitigating events which impact traffic flow, for example traffic accidents or weather events. We are developing and using the latest digital road management platforms to support decision making for Virginia Department of Transportation through their Artificial Intelligence Decision Support System project, allowing for fast multiagency responses and preventive measures on the network. 

Supporting behavioural change

‘Modal shift’ – the desire to encourage the community to use alternatives to private cars – is a priority for many cities, and can be achieved using both ‘push’ and ‘pull’ strategies. Mobility pricing is increasingly on the table as one such strategy and our focus is always on designing schemes with clear objectives and ease of user for the road user, for example our work supporting Think Tank Centre for London as they considered what next generation mobility pricing could look like in the city of London.