Frequently asked questions
What is road pricing?
When are you going to introduce national road pricing?
What are you doing about congestion in the meantime?
Why can't you build more roads to reduce congestion?
Will everyone have to pay £1.34 for every mile they drive?
What technology will be used?
Will I have to pay for a 'black box' in my car?
Would I get a speeding ticket with my bill if I break the speed limit?
Isn't this all about raising money?
What about people on lower incomes who can't afford to pay?
Will road pricing be about spying on people?
Are you going to improve public transport to give people more choice?
Will road pricing be designed to help the environment?
What about the rest of the world?
What is road pricing?
Road pricing is a way of tackling congestion. Congestion costs the economy and causes delay and frustration for motorists. It is also set to rise significantly over the next decade. Despite over £140 billion of planned central government transport investment over the 10 years up to 2015, on current trends congestion could get 25% worse.
Road pricing involves changing the way we pay for road use, to better reflect usage. It is not about stopping people travelling - rather addressing the concentration of vehicles on particular roads at specific times of day.
Research suggests that well designed road pricing schemes, alongside improved public transport, can lead to significant reductions in congestion. Through only a very small shift in travel patterns, significant reductions in congestion can be achieved. Shifts in travel patterns can be achieved in a number of ways, for example travelling at a different time of day and using public transport - road pricing is not about stopping people from travelling.
When are you going to introduce national road pricing?
No decisions have yet been made.
In the first instance, the Government is working with interested local authorities to bring forward local pilot schemes as targeted solutions to specific problems.
Any scheme will include a package of measures, including significant investment in public transport.
It is only on the evidence of these established schemes that any decision on national road pricing would be made. The Government is not rushing into this - we have always said we would need to see how it would work in practice first. That is why we are taking forward local schemes in the coming years.
What are you doing about congestion in the meantime?
We are already investing in the road network and public transport, including new road capacity where that is justified. We are also improving the way roads are managed, helping traffic to flow better. But that won't be enough in the long term as the number of vehicles on the road continues to increase. This is why we are interested in exploring how road pricing might work.
Find out more about what the Government is doing now to tackle congestion
Why can't you build more roads to reduce congestion?
While there is a case for new capacity on some roads, and that is being provided, we cannot build our way out of congestion. It would be unaffordable and environmentally unacceptable. And in our most congested urban areas there is often simply no room for new roads.
Will everyone have to pay £1.34 for every mile they drive?
No. This figure came from a feasibility study carried out for the Government in 2004. The study illustrated several theoretical road pricing schemes, of which some had £1.34 per mile as their highest rate. The lowest rate in these illustrations was 2p per mile. Very few people would pay the highest rate.
If it is decided in the years ahead that a national road pricing scheme might be established then we would clearly have to review the way fuel and cars are taxed. But it is impossible to predict exactly what the tax regime is going to be so many years in advance
What technology will be used?
No decision has yet been made.
We will soon be inviting companies to undertake demonstration projects to show how potential technologies might work reliably and deliver a secure system that safeguards individuals' privacy.
Will I have to pay for a 'black box' in my car?
As no decision has been taken about whether to have a national road pricing scheme, no decision has been made about the potential technologies.
Would I get a speeding ticket with my bill if I break the speed limit?
The purpose of a road pricing scheme would be to tackle congestion. Of course, we want people to use the roads responsibly, but we would not be designing systems with the purpose of monitoring speeds and sending out tickets.
Isn't this all about raising money?
Road pricing is about tackling congestion.
If it is decided in the years ahead that a national road pricing scheme might be established then we would clearly have to review the way fuel and cars are taxed
But it is impossible to predict exactly what the tax regime is going to be so many years in advance
In any of the local pilot schemes to tackle local congestion problems, the Government has always said to those authorities interested in taking them forward that we would work them to ensure there was a fair deal for motorists.
What about people on lower incomes who can't afford to pay?
The impact of any scheme will depend upon its design. No decision has yet been made on road pricing, let alone one been designed.
Any road pricing scheme must be allied to further improvements in public transport. Those on lower incomes are more likely to use public transport, especially buses
For those on low incomes who do use a car, we want to ensure that any scheme would be fair.
Will road pricing be about spying on people?
No. Road pricing is about tackling congestion.
Respecting privacy will be a central consideration in any scheme design. Indeed, any scheme established will not be interested in the details of which shops a driver goes to, any more than a mobile phone company cares who a customer is talking to.
Are you going to improve public transport to give people more choice?
Government has always said that improving public transport will be a key part of any road pricing scheme. We are reversing decades of underinvestment, putting over £2.5 billion annually into the bus network and spending on average £88 million each week on the railways. We will also be proposing new measures to secure improvements to the quality of local bus services, ensuring people can get where they need to go reliably and comfortably.
Will road pricing be designed to help the environment?
The primary aim of road pricing is to tackle congestion, but a road pricing scheme could still have environmental benefits, such as a positive impact on air quality. The Government has other policies to mitigate the environmental impact of road transport such as encouraging the use of more efficient cars and more efficient driving.
What about the rest of the world?
A number of other countries have road pricing arrangements in major cities and motorways. The Commission for Integrated Transport has carried out a comprehensive review of the existing and planned road pricing schemes across the world http://www.cfit.gov.uk/map/index.htm
