Toyko Looking at Toll Cordon

Tokyo’s metropolitan government is proposing a central area entry toll to be implemented by 2003. An expert Traffic Demand Management Study committee proposes dividing Tokyo into seven zones forming “cordon boundaries.” The borders of these seven zones are Loop 2, which circles the Imperial Palace, Loop 6 (Yamanote Av), Loop 7, Loop No. 8, JR Yamanote Line, the Sumidagawa river, the Arakawa river and prefectural borders. Cars and trucks would pay tolls crossing all these cordon boundaries 7am to 7pm on weekdays.

The scheme has the support of a variety of agencies including the National Police Agency, the Transport Ministry and the Construction Ministry. There is also a strong environmental element to the proposal, and the scheme may be under the control of a new automobile pollution reduction agency.

The toll cordon is strongly championed by the Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara who took office last April. He campaigned for office stressing the need to alleviate congestion and pollution. In November, the metropolitan government released a report “TDM (Traffic Demand Management) Tokyo Action Plan Proposal” that suggested the need for road pricing.

The proposal would use various automatic vehicle identification technologies, probably transponders and also license plate imaging.