Leeds and Edinburgh will be toll test sites
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• by Karen Miles Trials are to start in England and Scotland that could decide whether road tolling is to be rolled out nationally The year-long experiments near Leeds and on the M8 between Edinburgh and Glasgow will test the latest technology and involve hauliers and several thousand motorists in free pilot schemes.
The aim will be to assess whether technology can cope with the worst of the British weather and the variation in traffic speeds.
Vehicles will be fitted with discs that will register their movement when passing roadside tolling equipment.
An announcement an the Leeds initiative is expected from the Department of Transport within days, while the new Scottish administration pledged last week to introduce trials on the M8.
Leeds City Council has submitted a scheme to introduce mod pricing on the M621— which links the city to the cross • country M62 route—as well as urban routes.
The DDT's decision to run a tolling experiment in the Leeds area means that experimental tolling of the M3 in Hampshire will be shelved.
Road tolls are to take the centre of the political stage in Scotland after the newly devolved administration said that they may be included in a proposed transport Bill.
The co-operation of hauliers will be crucial in helping Scottish Office officials and the Scottish executive and parliament evalu ate the scheme.
Roth the Freight Transport Association and the Road Haulage Association in Scotland are complaining that operators already pay too much in road and fuel taxes.
First Minister Donald Dewar promises that all the money collected from tolls will be ploughed back into transport projects.