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Road pricing schemes need consistency, says Ladyman
Page 7
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ANY UK ROAD pricing system would have to operate consistently throughout the UK and might also need to work with systems elsewhere in Furope,sayslIansport Minister Stephen Ladyman.
Speaking to CM as part of our investigation into road pricing, Ladyman says that while schemes will initially be set up at a local level, eventually there is likely to be a nationwide system: "The idea would he that you have in your car one method of paying so you don't have to have something different for any journey that you might make."
This may initially be something that is worked out for existing charging zones, including the London congestion charge and the M6 Toll. "The ideal would be that you could drive into the centre of London [and] the congestion charge [would be] deducted from your account," Ladyman adds. "You could go past the M6Toll and the money [would] be taken from your account.
"The money may well end up in different people's pockets, but you wouldn't know that. All you'd know is that you only had to have one device in your car and it paid for all of these things and it took the right amount at the right time."
The government is talking to other EU states about the road charging systems being made compatible across the Continent.
Alan McKinnon, logistics professor at Heriot-Watt University, agrees there should be a move to develop a system that works throughout Europe: "This will be particularly important for trucks. While it will be difficult, technology is evolving quickly."
• See page 20 for our interview with Stephen Ladyman.
www.roadtransportecrn/cmnews