Darling said he would make a speech on the issue in Parliament on the week beginning 6 June 2005.
It would involve abolishing road tax and slashing fuel duties, while charging drivers between 2p to £1.30 per mile depending on where and when they drive. Their journeys would be monitored through satellite tracking technology. He said that any scheme would be revenue neutral, aimed at raising the equivalent amount of tax currently produced for the Treasury, with the emphasis on restraining the massive growth in traffic congestion in the UK.
A spokesperson for the Department for Transport (DfT) told Government Computing News that there are no solid proposals at this stage, but that the minister was eager to start a public debate on the issue.
"There have been no decisions on how the scheme may look, but they need to be taken in the course of this Parliament," the spokesperson said, adding that it is likely to be at least two years before any pilot projects are launched.
Many of the UK's roads are at capacity or exceeding it with only double digit growth for the foreseeable future. The Green lobby wants emiissions cut. The government wants a fairer way to tax motorists while reducing congestion and fuel emissions.
Last year the DfT published a feasibility study that said road pricing could reduce congestion by up to 40% and provide benefits to the economy worth up to £12bn per year in time savings and increased reliability.
If a scheme is developed and goes forward, it would involve many billions of pounds worth of technology and similarly large amounts of revenue. But it is questionable whether it will get beyond the proposal stage, given the intense controversy it has already stirred.
It could provide a push for schemes like London's congestion charge as an alternative. Efforts to extend the method recently received a setback when voters in Edinburgh turned down a proposal in a referendum.
Quelle: KableNET, 06.06.2005
