Today’s newspaper reports (NSW – Reclaiming First) have firmly put the idea of a CBD congestion tax back on the agenda.
Along with a fairer toll-way payment system, the renewed calls for a review of our approach to traffic and payments system is a classic example of how ‘customer segmentation’ might assist in better, and improved ways to travel.
The proposal for introducing a congestion tax in the CBD aims to segment the audience (different traffic forms and needs) and to then apply a tax against them, with the resultant funds to be applied to the much needed up-grade of public transport.
Similarly, the introduction of peak-pricing tax for travel on toll-ways has also been mooted.
While purists might claim such strategies create ‘one toll for the rich and another for the poor’, a more positive attitude might be that ‘those who need it most or those who fail to plan ahead’ should pay more’. Of course the inarguable outcome would be that any taxes raised should be reinvested in upgrading of current transport and infrastructure.
Marketers use segmentation strategies in many ways – a couple of very simple analogies can already be found at work in the CBD – many sandwich shops provide a discount for early lunch orders that help ‘ease the squeeze’ for the peak lunch-time period.
So-called ‘happy hours’ in bars and bistros and ‘early dining/pre-show dinner discounts’ are further applications of how segmentation assists to overcome the rush-hours and ‘ebbs and flows’ of business.
Marketing and public transport might seem odd bedfellows, but on closer scrutiny there future may be destined for future happiness.
