By David Millward and Alex Berry
Last Updated: 1:51am GMT 21/02/2007
Last Updated: 1:51am GMT 21/02/2007
Motorists face a potential bill of more than £600 to fit a black box needed to make a full pay-as-you-drive road pricing system work, Whitehall documents have reve
aled.
A blueprint drawn up by the Department for Transport showed it could cost £62 billion to set up and £8.6 billion a year to run.
Every motorist could end up paying nearly £300 just to cover the expense of collecting the charge, according to the department's feasibility study. Details of the study emerged as the Prime Minister signalled his intention to press ahead with road pricing in the teeth of fierce opposition.
More than 1.5 million people have signed an online petition against the policy, which it describes as "sinister and wrong".
In a newspaper article yesterday, Mr Blair, who will be emailing everyone who signed the petition, said: "The focus on this issue that the e-petition has brought about will help improve our understanding of the problems and the realisation that there are no cost-free answers."
But critics continued to attack the scheme as it emerged that hundreds of law-abiding motorists had been monitored by police in London using congestion-charging technology.
It added to the fears of motoring and civil liberties groups about the routine monitoring of drivers under the proposed measures.
The disclosure of the DfT's feasibility study showed it had looked at an array of road pricing options, including a comprehensive scheme in which more than 30 million cars on the nation's roads were tracked.
Other options included making drivers pay to use the outside lane on motorways, which would be separated from the rest of the carriageway.
Urban charging schemes were also examined — from a variation on the one in operation in London, to a version of that running in Singapore where cars are charged for crossing a certain boundary.
The study looked at the equipment that would need to be installed in a car. The cheapest option, at about £15, would be a transmitter capable of being read by a roadside gantry. A more sophisticated unit, costing £175, would enable a car to be tracked within what the study describes as "500-metre square cells".
The most sophisticated device giving an accurate picture of a car's journey would, at 2004 prices, cost anywhere from £100 to £525, with a further fitting fee of £100.
Even foreign cars arriving in Britain would be expected to have equipment installed and a temporary account set up, according to the paper.
The DfT even calculated that 15 per cent of motorists would require "debt management" and debt collectors would be needed to deal with three per cent of drivers. Much of this work would be co-ordinated by an enforcement agency and a fraud detector would also be engaged.
Under a comprehensive pay-as-you-drive system, the information would be sent to what the DfT describes as an 'on-road service provider" that would draw up the bills. Payment would be handled by call centres and there would be a direct debit option.
Douglas Alexander, the Transport Secretary, has pledged that the data would not be shared with other organisations but civil liberties groups have voiced fears.
Michael Parker, spokesman for NO2ID, said: "This sort of tracking represents an enormous threat and eventually people will become almost anaesthetised to their every step being tracked. It is tragic that a Government is prepared to think about this sort of thing."
Motoring organisations were equally alarmed.
"In terms of value for money you would have to have a phenomenal rate of return to invest £8 billion to run the scheme," said Paul Watters, the head of roads policy at AA Public Affairs.
"Can you imagine the size of the call centre and billing centre that would be needed to run this?"
Environmental groups maintained their support for the principle of road pricing. Jason Torrance, Transport 2000's campaigns director, said: "The Government must answer concerns about road pricing by announcing that any future scheme would give people real travel choices, with increased investment for public transport to tackle climate change."
aled.A blueprint drawn up by the Department for Transport showed it could cost £62 billion to set up and £8.6 billion a year to run.
Every motorist could end up paying nearly £300 just to cover the expense of collecting the charge, according to the department's feasibility study. Details of the study emerged as the Prime Minister signalled his intention to press ahead with road pricing in the teeth of fierce opposition.
More than 1.5 million people have signed an online petition against the policy, which it describes as "sinister and wrong".
In a newspaper article yesterday, Mr Blair, who will be emailing everyone who signed the petition, said: "The focus on this issue that the e-petition has brought about will help improve our understanding of the problems and the realisation that there are no cost-free answers."
But critics continued to attack the scheme as it emerged that hundreds of law-abiding motorists had been monitored by police in London using congestion-charging technology.
It added to the fears of motoring and civil liberties groups about the routine monitoring of drivers under the proposed measures.
The disclosure of the DfT's feasibility study showed it had looked at an array of road pricing options, including a comprehensive scheme in which more than 30 million cars on the nation's roads were tracked.
Other options included making drivers pay to use the outside lane on motorways, which would be separated from the rest of the carriageway.
Urban charging schemes were also examined — from a variation on the one in operation in London, to a version of that running in Singapore where cars are charged for crossing a certain boundary.
The study looked at the equipment that would need to be installed in a car. The cheapest option, at about £15, would be a transmitter capable of being read by a roadside gantry. A more sophisticated unit, costing £175, would enable a car to be tracked within what the study describes as "500-metre square cells".
The most sophisticated device giving an accurate picture of a car's journey would, at 2004 prices, cost anywhere from £100 to £525, with a further fitting fee of £100.
Even foreign cars arriving in Britain would be expected to have equipment installed and a temporary account set up, according to the paper.
The DfT even calculated that 15 per cent of motorists would require "debt management" and debt collectors would be needed to deal with three per cent of drivers. Much of this work would be co-ordinated by an enforcement agency and a fraud detector would also be engaged.
Under a comprehensive pay-as-you-drive system, the information would be sent to what the DfT describes as an 'on-road service provider" that would draw up the bills. Payment would be handled by call centres and there would be a direct debit option.
Douglas Alexander, the Transport Secretary, has pledged that the data would not be shared with other organisations but civil liberties groups have voiced fears.
Michael Parker, spokesman for NO2ID, said: "This sort of tracking represents an enormous threat and eventually people will become almost anaesthetised to their every step being tracked. It is tragic that a Government is prepared to think about this sort of thing."
Motoring organisations were equally alarmed.
"In terms of value for money you would have to have a phenomenal rate of return to invest £8 billion to run the scheme," said Paul Watters, the head of roads policy at AA Public Affairs.
"Can you imagine the size of the call centre and billing centre that would be needed to run this?"
Environmental groups maintained their support for the principle of road pricing. Jason Torrance, Transport 2000's campaigns director, said: "The Government must answer concerns about road pricing by announcing that any future scheme would give people real travel choices, with increased investment for public transport to tackle climate change."
2 comments:
Is it true that the PM was recently seen wearing a hat with a little sign on it stating '10/6 ' ?
You will of course be aware that this scheme will only take effect in England, implemented by Scottish elected MPs untouchable by the English electorate, more money for Gordon to shovel across the Borders enabling the Scots, Welsh and N. Irish to to be kept in the manner that they have become accustomed to.
Patrick Harris, Portsmouth, ENGLAND
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