A step closer to pay-per-mile

By: Driver.com staff
Date: 2009-11-13

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Things have come a long way since our article 2005 article Is road Pricing about to take off.

The number of motorists purchasing satellite navigation systems and smart phones is bringing road pricing within the realm of possibility very rapidly, according to one of the speakers at an Intelligent transportation Systems conference in Portsmouth, England.

Frederic Bruneteau,a former employee of Vodaphone and TomTom but now a director of the navigation consulting company Ptolemus, told the conference that "e-tolling" techniques were already being used in long distance haulage trucks in Europe.

Bruneteau reckons the system could also be applied to cars if governments get serious about it. By 2020, he said, e-tolling-ready smartphones and navigation devices will be the norm due to reduced cost. That will open the way to general road pricing for everyone.

"Instead of everyone paying the same road tax, drivers will pay depending on how far they drive," Bruneteau said. "So if you drive less, your road tax will be lower. People can then see a real financial gain which should encourage people to drive less, which is better for the environment."

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