BRITAIN: Britain hopes to launch a trial of "pay-as-you-drive" road charging within five to six years under proposals outlined yesterday by transport secretary Alistair Darling.
Drivers would pay up to £1.34 (€1.99) a mile under a satellite-monitored system which the government says is needed to avoid gridlock on some roads in the next 20 to 30 years.
Areas for pilot schemes would identified over the next two years, Mr Darling said in a speech to the Social Market Foundation think-tank in London.
"What is certain is that the problem of congestion is going to get worse," Mr Darling said. "Doing nothing is not an option."
Simply boosting spending on public transport would not be enough to solve growing congestion problems.
"We must look at it or else we face almost certain gridlock," he told Sky News earlier.
"If you can persuade only a small proportion of people to take their journeys earlier or later in the morning or the afternoon peak, you free up a lot of capacity."
The scheme, which would replace fuel tax, would require vehicles to be fitted with technology to allow satellites to monitor them.
The move, recommended last year in a government-funded study, would sharply cut fuel bills - duty currently accounts for about half the price of petrol.
Mr Darling insisted however that the intention was not to raise more tax from drivers.
A Mori poll for IT consultancy firm Detica, carried out before the plans were announced, found 47 per cent of motorists thought drivers should pay more during peak times. It also said only 16 per cent were totally against having a tracking system in their cars.
Conservative transport spokesman Alan Duncan said he wondered if the scheme would work in practice.
"Is the technology really going to be there? Are you just going to use this to squeeze out more tax from people? Is a mini going to be charged as much as a Bentley?"
Environmental group Friends of the Earth said road-pricing was only part of the solution. "Urgent measures are needed now to get people to use alternatives to the car," said its transport campaigner, Tony Bosworth.
Fears have also been raised that if petrol were to become drastically cheaper, motorists might buy environmentally unfriendly, gas-guzzling cars.