KEY POINTS:
Transit New Zealand's chosen supplier of technology for electronic road tolls believes public support will snowball once motorists start enjoying time savings and reduced pollution.
Urban Bulow, general manager of Swedish company Kapsch TrafficCom AB, told the Herald yesterday that the tide of public opinion had swung in support of several toll roads in Melbourne and Sydney which had drawn fierce initial opposition.
Although he acknowledged that Sydney's tolled Cross City Tunnel remained highly unpopular, and in financial trouble as a result, he said that was complicated by resentment over traffic restrictions on competing uncharged surface routes.
A key difference in New Zealand was a legal requirement for motorists to be guaranteed a free alternative to any tolled road.
"It is quite normal that there is resistance in the beginning but it's normal when people see the advantages - they get better traffic capacity and less pollution - they normally accept it," Mr Bulow said.
He said residents of Stockholm, who initially strongly opposed trial charges for driving into their central business district, voted in a referendum in September for these to become permanent after seeing congestion being cut by about 25 cent.
