Two-year countdown
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
by Juliet Parish • Hauliers have two years to fight for exemption from the Government's controversial road pricing scheme, which is due to be introduced in London by the end of the decade.
Outlining the state of the technology for such a system, Transport Secretary John MacGregor says he wants to "encourage a big public debate" before deciding if road pricing is the most effective way to reduce the capital's congestion.
One senior DOT official says that hauliers will be among a queue of other groups who will want exemptions: "We will have to look at exemptions very carefully," he says. "If we gave them to everybody who wanted them the scheme would not be worth having. And if, for instance, we gave them to all commercial vehicles then commuters would buy vans to come into London." One solution might be for LGVs to be charged less for using London during off-peak hours, he adds.
No decision on road pricing or any exemptions will be made until the end of a three-year D0'1' study which will be completed next year. The study includes a survey by John Fearon Consultancy on how operators would adapt to road pricing. 1-buliers are being quizzed for their views on two road pricing options: they could be charged on a cordon system, which would begin when they crossed a designated line, or on a distance-based system.
MacGregor says that by the end of the decade there will be an electronic system capable of coping with London's traffic. It is like
ly to take the form of a "smart card" which a driver would insert into a box fitted within his vehicle. Units, representing charges, would be automatically deducted by roadside beacons able to read the windscreen as vehicles passed by at speeds of up to 70mph.