On public attitudes toward implementation of toll roads—the case of Oslo toll ring

By reviewing the Oslo toll ring scheme and determining and explaining the public's attitudes towards the scheme, the paper aims to deduce lessons for future policy. The analysis is based on a time series interview survey for the period 1989-1990, and a multivariate model is developed to isolate factors that determine users' attitudes towards tolls. The results reveals that although a majority of commuters oppose the toll system, the gap between those who are against and those who are in favor of the toll ring system is narrowing as the years go by. The paper concludes that in order to achieve greater acceptability of tolling as a mean of financing infrastructure, a wider range of marketing effort is required. Finally, a set of points relevant to the marketing of future toll projects is proposed.