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Transport - Motoring

A controversial plan to tax motorists according to the distance they drive and send them a monthly bill is soon to be debated. Under the scheme, which is designed to ease congestion, drivers in some busy areas would pay up to 45p a mile for being on the roads at peak times. But if it goes ahead, drivers will be able to claim discounted fuel and may see their car tax levy scrapped in order to offset the new charges. The Commission for TrafficIntegrated Transport says its plan would cut jams by nearly a half within 10 years and replace existing road taxes. If the scheme does get the go ahead, the government has said it will not be introduced before 2011. Commission chairman Professor David Begg told the BBC: "It's good for Britain. There will be significant reductions in congestion and there will be less pollution because a lot of pollution is caused by queuing traffic." But the Conservatives have condemned the plan as another "stealth tax". Shadow transport secretary Theresa May said it was "another attempt at a sort of stealth tax trying to price the motorist off the road". The commission, which provides independent transport advice to the government, said Global Positioning System satellites would track vehicles via electronic black boxes fixed to the dashboard.

Average charge proposals per mile:

* Top charge: 45p, central London, rush-hour
* Motorway weekday: 3.5p
* Other roads weekday: 4.3p
* Rural roads busy times: 1p
* Rural roads off-peak: free
* Birmingham to Manchester - £7.40
* Leeds to Liverpool - £6
* Road tax scrapped
* Fuel duty cut by between 2p and 12p

Information on their whereabouts could be beamed back to computers at highway authorities or to a private company contracted to the government. Monthly charges would be levied according to the time of day the car is travelling, and the type of road used. But the proposals also Drivingrecommend getting rid of vehicle excise duty and reducing fuel prices to render the change "fiscally neutral", meaning there would be no extra cost overall to the road user. Professor Begg said motorists using only minor roads or driving short distances outside peak hours may not be charged at all. He added: "We have to come up with a mechanism which discourages some people, who do not really have to be on the busiest roads during the peak hours, to travel at different times and that's where congestion charging comes in." Professor Begg called on the government to implement its 10-year plans to improve public transport and provide the alternative people need to leave their cars at home. But the government is already playing down the prospects of the scheme being developed in the foreseeable future. A Transport Department spokesman said: "There is no prospect of introducing road user charging for vehicles other than lorries in the present decade."

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling is considering an extra charge for motorists who drive at peak times. He admitted such charging is "difficult political territory," but added doing nothing would be anti-motorist "because congestion is the worst possible outcome for the motorist." Mr Darling said that while road pricing is a scheme for the next decade, as it needs advanced technology, stark choices need to be considered now. He said, "By charging less we could encourage people to use the road when it's less congested, but charge more to use a busy motorway at 8am on a Monday. This way, for example, a haulier might choose to send their lorry out at a less congested time of day."

He said this approach could have significant benefits, including quicker journey times, a reduction in pollution and improvement in road safety. Mr Darling said it would benefit people who don't use their cars very often or who travel when it does not inconvenience other motorists. He said the aim must be a fairer deal for the motorist, adding such a charge could avoid the need to build more and more roads to deal with what can often be a very concentrated congestion problem.


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