WAYS & MEANS
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UK hauliers on international work have long been used to paying as they go. Now the DOT is evaluating road pricing schemes for the UK...
gwould it be fairer if those who make the most use of the most expensive roads met more of the cost of major road schemes?* The question is posed by Transport Secretary John MacGregor in the foreword to Paying for Better Motorways,theDOT discussion document on road pricing Hauliers would doubtless reply that they already pay more than their share through VED and fuel taxes, but motorway tolls and the like have been used on the Continent for years. So shouldn't UK hauliers welmme the fact that foreign operators visiting Britain might finally have to pay to use our roads, as we do for using theirs?
"It's tit for tat, but in the wrong direction," says David Croome, managing director of Crnome International which operates throughout Continental and Eastern Europe from its Sheerness base. "Instead of imposing more taxes within the Single Market they should be reducing them."
Croome's drivers receive credit cards which are issued by the motorway companies in France and Italy, w.) the physical act of paying the tolls is painless—but not so the costs. "One trip to Northern Italy for one truck incurs £400 in motorway tolls," says Cmome, "It's extremely expensive. We are not recouping in customer rates what we are outlaying in tolls."
Roy Harbour, director of Scunthorpe-based Offshore Transport services, singles out Spain, France and Italy as the main offenders "Most countries don't charge, so why should they?"
Harbour runs 12 trucks a week into the Continent, shipping out from Portsmouth. Toils average £150 per vehicle per trip, on top of each vehicle's £3,500 annual VED bill— and these vehicles spend no more than six days a month on British roads. Harbour is concerned that the introduction of tolls in Britain would simply lead to tolls being introduced by other EC states which are currently toll-free.
He is angry enough to support a roadblock to protest I can see something like the French blockade happening here if any more z costs are forced an to hauliers. Or are we British so laid back that we will accept anything they throw at us?"
Newport operator Gwintrux concentrates its activities in Germany and Austria where 8 tolls do not exist But Austria does impose road tax on visiting operators spokesman, I Steve !fill says that this costs the company £360 a month. If tolls are introduced here we will be stung both ends," he says.
So how dom the UK differ from its Continental counterparts in the way that trucks are held accountable to society for their costs to the transport infrastructure?
The DOI% discussion document makes a number of comparisons. As well as taxes on fuel and vehicle ownership, most countries charge for the use of expensive infrastructure such as estuary crossings and major tunnels.
While the DOT admits that Britain's VED rates for trucks are among the highest in the EC, it blames this on the absence of direct charging "That is how we have insured that goods vehicles at least cover their track amts," claims the DOT UK diesel duty is also above the EC average, but harmonisation of diesel duty is on the agenda as part of the move towards fairer competition for raid haulage.
Europe has some 40,000km of motorways, of which about 13,503km are covered by tolls; 90% of toll roads are in France, Italy and Spain. Austria, Portugal and Greece have some tolled motorways, and outside the EC Japan and the US also charge tolls.
DECADES
In France, Italy and Spain tolled motorways have been in existence for decades. France and Italy began extensive motorway development in the 1950s, followed by Spain in the 1960s. All three countries built their motorways with tolls in mind. The DOT expects road building in Eastern Europe to be funded in the same way.
France also has a long tradition of private toll roads. During the 1960s private companies were allowed to bid for the concessions to build roads with government help, including low-interest cash advances. Seven autoroutes and two tunnels were paid for in this fashion.
In Switzerland a permit system obliges hauliers to complete a customs declaration on entering the country and to pay a proportion of the domestic ownership tax, based on the amount of time spent on Swiss territory. This system could not be used in EC countries since border restrictions were lifted with the introduction of the Single Market The DOT also points to experiences outside Europe. In America five private toll roads run through California and Virginia; there are others in Indonesia, Mexico, Malaysia and Thailand.
Government loans, grants or underwriting of the risk often feature in these projects, says the DOT giving a Wong hint that eventual privatisation or semi-privatisation of the motorway system could be on the long-term agenda.
DISTANCES
Norway, Sweden, Finland, Turkey and New Zealand levy a distance-related charge on 11 Ns, charging a standard rate per mile dependent on the class of vehicle. New Zealand uses odometers attached to vehicle hubs to measure distances travelled.
The technology for electronic tagging is being developed in Sweden but is unlikely to be ready for five years, although limited schemes are being tested in Norway and the US. No one has yet attempted to apply a constant electronic charging system to a widespread and heavily used system such as the UK's.
Lace the UK, Germany is investigating a permit system as an interim step toward electronic tolling; technical field trials are due to start later this year. The DOT believes that many other countries are considering electronic tagging One option is a unit that accepts a smart card and displays its balance the Swedes are testing this method in Gothenburg When a vehicle enters a charging zone the unit activates a microwave beam, set on an overhead gantry.
Whatever system is chosen—permits, conventional tolling booths or electronic direct charging—it looks increasingly likely that the principle of charging road users by the mile will be implemented in UK legislation.
None of the major political parties is opposed to the idea.: it remains to be seen whether hard-pressed hauliers will have the blow cushioned by a reduction in VED A wise Chancellor might well slash VED to ease the passage of road pricing on to the statute books; but the temptation would remain to let it creep back up, budget by budget.
Is that too cynical a view? Time will tell. El by Patric Cunnane