Are you in favor of congestion taxes in EDSA?

Congestion taxes what?

A consultant of the Local Government Development Foundation, Professor Carlita Carlos of the University of the Philippines is proposing the imposition of congestion taxes for the use of EDSA during peak hours. This, she said, has been done in London and New York.

 "Congestion tax means when you have to pay to use EDSA during peak hours," Carlos explains in an ABS-CBN interview.


What is a congestion tax?

The congestion tax is a tax levied on most vehicles entering and exiting a certain location, which is usually a business district or a traffic-congested thoroughfare.


How are vehicles taxed?

Some countries use unmanned electronic control points at all entrances to the affected area. The congestion tax is applied on both entry and exit.

The vehicles passing the control points are identified through automatic number plate recognition with the use of cameras, laser detectors, antennas.


Method of payment

There are no payment booths at the control points, they are all unmanned and payment is done by other means later (e.g. delivery by mail to the vehicle owner's registered address, electronic delivery to the vehicle owner's Internet bank, or through a direct debit arrangement).


Amount of tax

The amount of tax payable depends on what time of the day a motorist enters or exits the congestion tax area. Some countries don't charge on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.


The congestion tax is also being implemented in other countries such as Singapore, Sweden, Norway, Czech Republic, Latvia, Malta, among others.


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