Success of London traffic charge paves way for trial of satellite tracking system to bill car users for their journeys

Mark Townsend
Sunday February 23, 2003
The Observer

A national road toll scheme charging motorists up to £1.30 a mile is poised to be introduced following the early success of congestion charging in London.

Key transport advisers to Tony Blair claim the Government is preparing the ground for the introduction of road charging as a means of curbing traffic jams throughout the UK. Introducing sophisticated satellite tracking technology into every British vehicle has moved 'sharply up the political agenda', sources claim.

A national toll scheme, which would charge motorists from 3p a mile on quiet roads to £1.30 a mile in the centre of crowded cities, is being seriously examined by transport chiefs.

Chancellor Gordon Brown is understood to favour the concept because of its huge revenue-raising potential. Congestion charging began in London last Monday. Already it has netted a potential £3 million in fines in five days.

Senior government officials told Transport for London (TfL) on Friday that they were delighted with the initial success of London's congestion charge scheme.

Electronic tracking technology for charging motorists who use busy roads will undergo extensive government trials this year. Cars will be fitted with tagging devices and their journeys followed by roadside detectors with a bill automatically dispensed to drivers.

The scheme will go on trial near Leeds - which has already unveiled plans for a charging scheme involving 100,000 motorists a day and is seen as the harbinger of a national road toll.

Ministers are also about to release national exemption regulations for congestion charging schemes, fresh evidence they are keen to encourage as many towns and cities as possible to take up the scheme.

The regulations will provide binding exemptions to road charging schemes, ensuring vehicles belonging to the emergency services and disabled drivers are not penalised, for example. Already 35 towns and cities have expressed an interest in emulating London's lead.

The Prime Minister's chief transport advisers are adamant that a national road toll scheme remains the best option for cutting congestion levels by up to 44 per cent. David Begg, chairman of the Government's Commission for Integrated Transport, which has produced the blueprint for a UK road charge scheme, said: 'Blair understands the intellectual argument. It's how to carry public support that is the major issue, but there is no question a national charge scheme has moved up the agenda.'

Sources say the Government will issue a green paper later this year to try to win over public support and facilitate a move from urban congestion charging to a national toll system.

It will examine the implications of using satellite technology and how funds collected by the scheme will be spent.

Other key issues to be examined include whether a national UK scheme could even be integrated into a pan-European system.

At this stage, however, the Government has flatly ruled out a shift to widespread road tolls before 2010.

Ken Livingstone's scheme attracted massive and instant global support in its first week of operation with transport chiefs from Tehran to Tokyo registering an interest. A spokesman for TfL said that ultimately the scheme could be adopted by up to 100 cities across the world.