LGA report forecasts introduction of road tolling

A report by the Local Government Association (LGA), the organisation representing councils in England and Wales, predicts road tolling or pay as you drive road pricing could be introduced by 2018. With traffic predicted to nearly double over the next 25 years, the LGA believes the Government will have to consider tolls or even pay as you drive road pricing to raise the money it needs.
November 27, 2012 Read time: 3 mins

A report by the 6932 Local Government Association (LGA), the organisation representing councils in England and Wales, predicts road tolling or pay as you drive road pricing could be introduced by 2018.

With traffic predicted to nearly double over the next 25 years, the LGA believes the Government will have to consider tolls or even pay as you drive road pricing to raise the money it needs.

Ministers are looking at ways to attract investment into the road network and one option under consideration would see the 503 Highways Agency privatised on similar lines to the water and electricity industry.  The Government is due to publish the results of a joint Treasury-1837 Department for Transport review into the major road network within weeks.

The LGA says the challenge facing the Government is that attracting private investment is seen as requiring an income stream from the motorist to the operator to provide a return on investment.  This, it says could involve linking vehicle excise and fuel duties more closely to road use or even some form of pay as you drive road charging – “requiring some form of surveillance.” Any changes, the LGA says, could be introduced in 2018.

The LGA is the latest organisation to suggest that road pricing is unavoidable, even though the policy was ditched by the last Labour Government following a voter backlash.

Road pricing has been backed by the 4961 RAC Foundation and the CBI, which recommended the privatisation of Britain’s motorways and major A roads in October.

The LGA’s analysis comes as the Government confirmed it was ready to introduce tolling on an improved twenty-mile section of the A14, a key transport artery linking the Midlands and major ports in East Anglia.

At the same time, plans are already in place for a wave of new “free flowing” tolling schemes – such as the Dartford Crossing, where motorists would pay to use stretches of road via the internet or mobile phone.

Underpinning the need to raise more cash from motorists is not only the need to find money for road repairs and tackling congestion but also a feared black hole in the Treasury’s finances.

Earlier this year the Office of Budget responsibility, which advises George Osborne, warned that the trend towards more fuel efficient cars could lead to the Government’s tax take from drivers being £600 million less in 2014 than previously anticipated.

Charging, Tolling & RUC

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