Kien-k'ang congestion charge
The Kien-k'ang congestion charge is a fee paid by vehicle drivers to enter the urban part of Kien-k'ang within the Kien-k'ang Ring Road excluding the Superior Woods, on certain classes of motor vehicles between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., that is one hour before and after banks open and close. The fee payable depends on the class of vehicle entering, whether entering on a working day or holiday, and whether the vehicle qualifies for various kinds of exemptions based on its fuel efficiency.
History
The charge was in a long history of legislation that sought to regulate motor vehicles in Kien-k'ang, whose narrow and bent streets were laid out well before the advent of motor vehicles and thus did not enable easy driving. While the production and importation of cars was under strict control owing to petrol rationing since 1936, the end of rationing 1953 caused the number of cars to rise sharply, whereby major roads became extremely congested in but a few years. A test in 1964 by The Times of Kien-k'ang obtained that cars travelled at less than 2 MPH on average traversing the city-centre. Such traffic conditions were heavily protested by all manner of road-users, not less the omnibus drivers who collected pay by distance driven.
The sudden appearance of motor traffic also revealed related problems in road infrasturcture, such as weak or narrow bridges, uncovered drains, and road subsidance. Many streets had unequal widths at different places, and others had sharp corners with little to no curvature. The narrowness of streets in Kien-k'ang was accentuated by buildings often built to the property line with no setback. There were but a few major roads, such as the Great Rak Highway and New West Road, with passable geometry and allowing vehicles to move quickly through the city.
While the city ordered studies to improve traffic conditions, it was understood that substantial widening of streets was out of the question as they bordered commercial or residential properties. Indeed, public and private spaces on the street edge had already mingled for centuries buildings extending over the unused space above the street; land-owners were allowed to build over the street on the grounds that the covering benefited road-users by protecting them from the elements. This was a well-established right in Kien-k'ang and buttressed by the obligation to clean and light the part of the street one's property covered.
The first policies to alleviate traffic were not meant to reduce the number of cars but to increase the amount of "navigable road surface" by eliminating obstacles on the streets, such as parked cars. To that end, the City banned deliveries by vehicles during trading hours, as they tended to stop in front of shops and block traffic. Most of Kien-k'ang's buildings did not have rear access wide enough for cars. Deliveries could take a considerable amount of time as wares were unloaded and inventoried. Vehicles making substantial deliveries were instructed to do so during off-hours. Turning at various intersections was also banned as it blocked traffic behind. In 1971, three roundabouts were removed as they were notorious points of congestion, leading local protest against the removal of landscaping in the roundabout.
Following this, the City also ordered that nowhere in the inner city was free vehicle parking to be offered, even on private properties. This is often considered the first policy that implicitly curtailed car access, by imposing a mandatory cost to stopping in the inner city. On the other hand, it also was aimed at improving the quantity of road surface available, since many street sides were thence declared non-parking. However, it did not target road users who simply traversed the city.