Factsheets - No.8: A new concept for paying for road use

A new concept for paying for road use

• That shifts some road use costs from being a tax paid to Government, to paying a direct charge to use the road network - but only at congested times
• Is fiscally neutral meaning that there would be no extra costs overall for the road user - just a different way of paying
• A charge would be made to those using congested roads at peak times of day when demand is highest
• Where there is no congestion, no charges would be made (63% of all travel)
• That would reduce the amount of traffic by 5%, leading to a 44% reduction in congestion nationally
• That would cut pollution and make journeys by bus, car and road haulage faster, less congested and more reliable
• That would bring cost savings to those who make occasional, off peak journeys or those who travel mainly on non- congested routes such as rural roads
• Concept would not be implemented until the improved public transport promised in the Government's 10 Year Transport Plan is delivered and the technology more widely available

Benefits in tax reduction

• For 63% of your mileage, no charge would be made at all
• £5.7 billion of revenue every year would result from transferring the costs we pay in tax to the Treasury to paying a road using charge instead
• Revenue could be used to reduce the costs of fuel duty by 12 pence per litre
• Alternatively, it could be used to wipe out the cost of vehicle excise duty and still provide a further billion to spend on reducing fuel duty by 2 pence a litre
• Motorists in aggregate would be financially no worse off as a result of the charges, but would be better off overall because of the benefits of less traffic congestion

Technology

• Charging system could be facilitated by Global Positioning Technology which uses position-fixing satellites
• Can detect which vehicles enter a given section of a route and at what time
• Can detect what type of vehicle you are driving and, for example, impose a reduced charge for a 'green' vehicle
• Is flexible enough to charge less if you are driving outside of peak travel times, or not to charge you at all if your route is not congested
• You would be able to calculate the cost of the journey before you travelled (tariffs would be published by time of day with charges readily available either by phone or electronically via the internet)
• Road users could pay using prepaid smart cards, direct debit and credit cards, or by monthly invoice (much as mobile phone use can be paid for)

Benefits of congestion relief

Urban

• Congestion reductions would be 34% in Central London (over 10 minutes saving on a 5 mile journey and in inner London by over 5 minutes)
• In conurbations, congestion levels would fall by around 35% and in small urban areas, by around 11% or 12%
• Traffic reductions would be greatest in central London (nearly 20%), then inner London (around 16%)
• Reductions of between 11% and 13% would be achieved in outer London and inner areas of conurbations such as Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool
• The largest other cities such as Hull, Southampton, Leicester and Middlesborough would see a reduction of between 8% and 9%

Motorways and Trunk Roads

• Charges would apply on 10% (in length) of motorway network and other trunk roads but would apply to those sections only at times affected by congestion
• Would produce a 2.6% fall in motorway traffic
• Average times in charging period would fall by over 3%, and congestion as measured using the DTLR definition would fall by over a third

Rural

• Most rural roads would not be subject to a charge as they do not generally have high congestion levels
• Traffic levels would be reduced by 2.4% and congestion by 11%

Freight

• HGVs would pay 11% of total congestion charges as they travel more on motorways and on trunk roads than cars
• Would greatly benefit from increased journey reliability and higher time-related operating cost savings

Customer service guarantee

• Road users will be paying a charge in order to receive a higher quality journey experience on the road network
• If the service falls below that expected, it would be possible for road users to be compensated

Return to: Paying for road use index