Dec 06/Jan 07

It looks as though telematics-based road user charging is well and truly back on the political agenda, following the publication of the Eddington Transport Study by Sir Rod Eddington. The report was prepared at the request of the Government in order to discuss a wide range of measures for possible future transport policy.

Unlike the ill-fated Lorry Road User Charging scheme, any future project based on the report's findings seems likely to embrace all vehicle types - a policy stated by the Government when it scrapped the LRUC last year.

The key point in the report is that it regards this as a desirable aim, and implies that it is technologically possible. Indeed, road pricing could bring economic benefits to the tune of £28 billion a year by 2025, it says.

It does not however offer the Government a carte blanche to impose stringent price-related road use controls without any accompanying positives. It argues for "sustained and targeted infrastructure investment" as well as "congestion pricing on the roads and environmental pricing across all modes".

 

It does not spell out in much detail how road charging should be applied, but industry sources have been quick to fill the gaps. Within days of the publication of the report, an organisation called the Green Light Group came up with its own document, Road pricing - can the technology cope?, which answers its own question in the affirmative.

According to Howard Potter, chairman of both the Green Light Group and the Institution of Civil Engineers: "The technology is available to implement road pricing and the time is right to do so."

This report examines various options for applying road pricing, and recommends using a mix of satellite-based systems (which it calls Remote Electronic Positioning) and tag and beacon technology (Direct Short Range Communications). "Both systems are easy to use and by using them in tandem, we would ensure reliability," Potter says.

This plays strongly to the view of Sir Rod Eddington, who concludes in his own report: "I believe that there is no attractive alternative to road pricing. Without a widespread scheme by 2015, the UK will require very significantly more transport infrastructure." He adds: "The challenge now is to unlock the vast potential of road pricing."

Not everyone has been delighted by Eddington's findings. Workwise, a not-for-profit organisation seeking alternative ways of reducing congestion, says the report should have backed the idea of changing work practices and encouraging smarter working. It cites flexible working, mobile working, remote working and home working.

The Forum of Private Business says that if a road charging system were introduced now, it would become just another tax for businesses and their workers because they have little choice. It wants any scheme to reflect the fact that bigger national companies tend to have more transport options at their disposal than smaller local ones.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says the report is too town-centric, and fears that a decline in infrastructure projects might leave rural communities "village-locked", with a lack of viable options for travel and transport.