Marginal external cost toll ($T_j(y)=y{D}_j\prime (y)$)

For a differentiable link delay $D_j(y)$, the toll $T_j(y)=y{D}_j^{\prime }(y)$ charges a user for the additional delay imposed on the other users. Its perceived link cost is the derivative of $y{D}_j(y)$. The resulting Beckmann potential equals total travel delay. If total delay is convex, its Wardrop equilibria minimize that delay globally. Strict increase of $D_j$ alone does not imply this convexity; optimal-flow calibrated congestion tolling avoids that extra requirement.

Let $y^{\ast }$ be a globally delay-minimizing feasible vector of link throughputs. For continuously differentiable strictly increasing delays, calibrated tollsmake the marginal social costs at $y^{\ast }$ equal the perceived route costs there. First-order route-exchange conditions make $y^{\ast }$ a tolled Wardrop equilibrium. The nonnegative nondecreasing penalty vanishes at the optimum; choosing ${\epsilon }_j>0$ makes the toll genuinely traffic-dependent. The perceived link delays remain strictly increasing, so their Beckmann potential gives unique equilibrium link loads. Every tolled Wardrop equilibrium therefore has the globally optimal $y^{\ast }$, even when the total-delay objective is not convex.