A two-speed future?
Page 15
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• The government predicts a 29% increase in traffic levels by the end of this decade, so anticipating and reacting to congestion will become ever more important. It seems inevitable that road users will adopt traffic monitoring systems, but what happens when everybody has such a service? Will diversions become as congested as the original routes?
Will we see a two-tier service, where the more you pay, the quicker the route you are given? One possible scenario (proposed in Holland) suggests that road users file a "flight plan" detailing their route before they depart, to be approved or modified (via the Internet) by the traffic authorities. Another possibility is spot tolling of the roads via a remote link, so the more congested the road, the more you are charged.
• What do you think? Do you really want anybody else to know the whereabouts of your vehicles, or could vehicle monitoring speed up the lifeblood of the country? Write to Mild let us know.