Is Road Pricing on its Way?

It’s always been on the cards as a possibility since the move to EV’s started to gather momentum. It’s been a bit of a golden period for those who could afford an EV, and didn’t pay much to keep it on the road, and I don’t begrudge them a penny. But the fuel tax black hole has been looming for a while now as EV ownership grows. How this would be covered has been one of our concerns for a while, and that’s why we are hanging fire on EV ownership until things are clearer.

Agree with a lot of what’s been said up thread, particularly the need to ring fence the duty for investment in roads and road safety developments. Not something I would currently trust any Gov. to do at the moment (look how the imminent imposition of higher NI was supposed to be ring fenced to help the NHS😡)Agree with SB as well regarding the criminal element, huge scope there for fraud. Not sure how private car tracking will go down with the civil liberties groups either to be honest🤷‍♀️
It would be brilliant tough if technology could include limiting vehicles to certain speeds on certain road types. That would really kick the boy racers into touch nicely.

Cant help thinking that EV sales are outpacing preparation for them becoming the norm on UK roads, you only have to consider the charging network infrastructure to realise this. Better than it was, but no where near where it ought to be. Home based and public provision.

The user and all related content has been Deleted User

I think TDAs point about civil liberties is the deal breaker here. So far, it’s only been commercial drivers who’ve been systematically tracked - it goes with the job. A system that records the current and historical whereabouts of everybody driving a registered vehicle is an entirely different matter - it will create outrage.

No-one would need to know your whereabouts with a tracker it could just record the distance travelled on a central data base. Eg using your reg number and clocking up mileage via a signal as you travel. The technology is there already.

 

 

 

Privacy does not need to be compromised if the French model is adopted.

Your vehicle can be clocked by the ANPR camera when you join the network (motorways and trunk roads) and it is clocked off when you leave.  Local roads could be toll-free but the upkeep covered by a standard RFL for all vehicles.

Many UK routes already have ANPR technology to track miscreants and tax dodgers, so not much change would be required.

Where we live all routes into and out of our town are covered by anpr cameras plus in the town itself

We do also have the county police HQ in our town

The user and all related content has been Deleted User

The user and all related content has been Deleted User

ANPR as a method isn’t perfect. Those wishing to avoid charges could simply clone another vehicle. There is obviously a risk involved, but some will go for it if the rewards are worth the risk.

Assuring people that the data is private won’t be trusted by many. In order to track vehicle movements a record of every journey will be created. It’s like permanently leaving your satnav on, it will record and store to within a few metres everywhere you visited at what times and on what dates. 

Just about very Police force has cut back in recent times on traffic policing due to budget constraints. That doesn’t sit comfortably with Road Pricing enforcement.

Our tracker does just that and advises where it was last seen