Exploring road pricing systems and technology
People need to have confidence that road pricing schemes would be fair. That means ensuring privacy is safeguarded, and that they are reliable and accurate.
As part of our exploration of road pricing we will test whether a time-distance-place road pricing scheme could work fairly. We will do this by running a series of 'demonstrations'. The demonstrations will test possible future road pricing systems and technology - individually and together - to find out how they would work in practice. Key to the demonstrations will be finding out how privacy could be safeguarded.
The demonstrations were announced by the Secretary of State in May 2006 [click here to read the May 2006 speech]. They will inform the Government's thinking on road pricing as well as supporting the work being done by local authorities who are interested in setting up local road pricing schemes of their own.
A Prior Information Notice was issued to industry in July 2006. This was a chance for industry to register their interest in the demonstrations and find out how they can take part. Industry has since been invited, via two notices (122181-2007 and 122182-2007) in the Official Journal of the European Union issued in May 2007, to bid for, and run, different elements of the demonstrations. Both can be found in the journal by searching for "Road Pricing Demonstrations Project".
Our discussions with industry will continue over the coming months and we expect to start the first demonstrations in Spring 2008.
FAQs
What will the demonstrations do to safeguard people's privacy?
We know safeguarding privacy is important and that is why one of the primary objectives of the demonstrations is to identify how a time, distance and place scheme could be designed so that it safeguards privacy. We will explore a number of different system design and technology options to see how this could best be done.
Are the demonstrations the same as local road pricing schemes?
No. The local road pricing schemes developed by local authorities will be real schemes that tackle local congestion problems as part of a package of other measures. We expect the demonstrations to inform the work that local authorities are doing to develop local road pricing schemes, and expect to see these schemes up and running in four to five years time.
How real will the demonstrations be?
The demonstrations are not real road pricing schemes so no money will be involved. But they will simulate as closely as possible the real conditions in which a time, distance and place road pricing scheme would work. This will help us understand how a system could be designed so that it safeguards privacy whilst working reliably and accurately in practice.
Will the demonstrations lead to national road pricing?
No decision has been taken on whether to have a national road pricing scheme. The demonstrations will inform the Government's exploration of road pricing, and the work being done by local authorities to develop proposals for local road pricing schemes to tackle local congestion.
What will the demonstrations mean for the people involved?
We need to understand how a time, distance and place road pricing scheme might work if it was being actively used. The people involved would therefore be volunteers who agree to participate to allow us to test the systems and technology involved in a time, distance and place road pricing scheme from beginning to end.
Where and when will the demonstrations take place?
The demonstrations will start in Spring 2008. No decision has been taken on where they will take place.
Further information
For more information on the demonstrations project read the context document below.
For more information on congestion and road pricing click here.
Demonstrations Project - Context document and statement of requirements (361 kb)
- Published:
- 23 May 2007
