Road price charging is a spectre that continues to rear an ugly head at motorists that seem to continually come under attack, particularly in the form of petrol duty and tax. But, what exactly would road pricing involve and what is the technology behind it?
In simple terms, there are three different technologies available that the govenment could use:
1) ANPR – automatic number plate recognition which could monitor where your motor goes and when
2) Tag and Beacon – a tag in the car sends a signal to a beacon, which monitors where your car goes and when
3) GPS – as per your car sat nav, the government could measure exactly where you are, when you go there and how fast you go too
So, with a range of technologies, is it still being investigated as a way to fund road use? Well, unfortunately it appears that road price charging has never gone away. The Times Online has an excellent article which is more than worth a read. I’ll keep you informed as I hear more developments.
Personally, I do not like the idea of road price charging and feel it will likely be over complicated and lead to higher prices for most.
MoT G says
June 1, 2010 at 4:40 pmGiven that we’re already taxed on the mileage we drive – over 50% of every £1.20 we spend on diesel or petrol is tax – why should we pay for another – unnecessary and probably very expensive – system?