Envy the lucky travelers of London. As you may know, in 2003 the city imposed a congestion toll of £5 (later raised to £8) on all vehicles entering the central district. In 2007, Transport for London, a government agency, did a cost-benefit analysis of the impacts (find the full report here).

It found the following about costs per year to travelers in the central district:

• Individuals and business travelers pay about £236 million in tolls.
• Some trips to the area are canceled, costing would-have-been drivers the equivalent of about £31 million.
• It costs motorists and firms £19 million to comply with the system.
• Total burden on travelers: £286 million.

And now the benefits to travelers:

• Drivers (individuals and businesses) reap benefits from saved time and improved travel reliability of about £260 million.
• Drivers save £28 million in vehicle operating costs.
• Bus riders save about £43 million worth of time.

This adds up to £331 million in savings. Please note that even the driving public (who, after all, pay the tolls) come out slightly better than if the tolls did not exist.

Read more at Eric's blog on the NYTimes/Freakonomics site.