Road pricing scheme trials to start in 2010

National road pricing is back in the news today after The Telegraph reported that the government is to launch secret trials to test technology which will allow a vehicle’s movements to be tracked and billed accordingly.The prototype road-pricing device will charge you for your time on the road which could cost £1.30 a mile during peak hours.Eight areas of the country have been selected by ministers for the pay-per-mile trials which will begin in 2010 and could in theory lead to tolls on motorways across the country.The eight areas initially selected are Leeds, North Yorkshire, Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire, south west London, Suffolk and Essex.However a blog by Manchester Evening News journalist, David Ottewell suggests that the technology could just as easily be used for local congestion charging rather than a national road pricing scheme and that the trials are not necessarily proof that road pricing will go ahead.A DfT (Department for Transport) spokeswoman told the journalist;"It is absolute nonsense to suggest that these technology trials - which we announced last year and updated Parliament on last month - mean that national road pricing is going ahead."We have been absolutely clear that any proposal for national road pricing would need to address the legitimate concerns people have. We're a very long way from that which is why our priority now and over the next decade is on tackling congestion where it is experienced most - in our cities and on our motorways. "

No Comments Yet