Road pricing could quadruple the cost of commuting

[skylight]

02 August 2005

Road pricing could quadruple the cost of commuting –
says car magazine after putting the system to the test

The cost of commuting could quadruple for commuters if the Government’s plan for pay-as-you-drive motoring goes ahead.

To check the system CAR Magazine put a satellite tracking system and the Government’s provisional pricing structure to the test, with chilling consequences.

A black box tracker was fitted to a Ford Focus, and the magazine discovered that the device, already in use by fleet operators, pinpointed the car’s every move to within three metres. The system can also identify speeding infringements, even by as little as 1mph.

However, there is also the potential for a huge jump in motoring costs.

CAR magazine tried out the system on some of Britain’s most congested roads during the rush hour and the magazine applied the Department for Transport’s sample prices per mile, following the Government’s charging principles: the more congested and major a road, the higher the cost per mile.

And in conclusion CAR found that the cost of motoring would rocket for millions of Britain’s commuters.

The first journey, from Peterborough (Cambridgeshire) to Baldock (Hertfordshire), took in a mix of motorway, urban, A roads and rural roads, with prices varying from 86p a mile on the gridlocked A14, to just 4p a mile on the rural A505.

At today’s prices, this 53.2-mile journey would have cost £3.57 in fuel duty and road tax, in a 1.6-litre Ford Focus averaging 44.1mpg. But under pay as you drive charging, CAR estimates that the journey would cost £17.50.

Similarly, a 74.3-mile journey from Peterborough to London – depositing £4.84 into Government coffers at today’s rates – could cost £20.85 when pay-as-you-drive is up and running.

‘The Government says half of motorists will pay less if road pricing comes in. But the other half – some 14m drivers – face big hikes in their cost of commuting,’ says Jason Barlow, CAR editor. ‘Not to mention the 140,000 drivers who will be subjected to the top rate, provisionally priced at a hefty £1.34 a mile.’

CAR agrees something has to be done about the congestion that blights our roads – and the Government claims this pricing structure would cut total jams by 46 percent.

‘Having conducted a real-world test, we believe satellite tracking could provide a sophisticated, precise way to make motorists pay for their true cost of motoring,’ says Jason Barlow. ‘But it will be a huge challenge – and cost billions of tax-payers’ money – to develop a bullet-proof system that works not just for one car, but for the 28m cars out there on Britain’s roads.’

CAR believes there are other crucial issues that must be dealt with, before the system is implemented.

Says Jason Barlow: ‘We are concerned that congestion might be displaced from high rate, major roads – which are best suited to dealing with heavy volumes of traffic and typically away from residential areas – and onto cheaper, minor roads, causing congestion there.

‘And we need the following guarantees from the Government. First, that the public transport system will be improved, to offer a true, reliable and flexible alternative to the convenience of the car.

‘Second, that employees will be guaranteed flexible working hours, to help motorists avoid peak time charges if they wish to.

‘And finally, we would like the Government to go on the record, and promise that satellite tracking won’t be used to catch out motorists for accidentally slipping just over the speed limit.’

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Jason Barlow and Phil McNamara, CAR Magazine news editor, are available for media interviews. Please call Sue White on 01733 468 379 to arrange an interview

Car magazine has an average circulation of 103,272 (abc Jul-Dec 2004)

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HOW WE DID IT

The black box tracker

The Ford Focus was fitted with a satellite tracking device, from telematics firm Quartix, a Cambridge- and Newtown-based company. It supplies trackers to 4500 vehicles, whose position can then be monitored via Quartix’s website (www.quartix.net).

The pricing structure

CAR used one of the Government’s example pricing structures, quoted extensively in its ‘Feasibility study of road pricing in the UK’ (July 2004) and in a speech by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling. The report says the price schemes are ‘explicitly not proposals for introduction’. However, they were used to model the feasibility of UK road pricing, and are the best guide yet to the Government’s thinking.

Charging grade
Cost per mile

1
2p

2
4p

3
6p

4
7p

5
9p

6
14p

7
23p

8
38p

9
86p

10
134p



(All costs converted from km to miles, and rounded up)

CAR’s pricing structure

CAR took the Focus on two journeys, taking in four of the UK’s worst congestion hotspots, according to RAC data for 2004. Of the 8000 miles of major roads monitored by the RAC, the A14 linking Cambridge and Huntingdon, the A1M at Stevenage, the A1/A41 London Gateway, and the A406 inner London ringroad all figure in its 33 most congested stretches.

Using the RAC data and the magazine’s extensive knowledge of the local traffic conditions, CAR overlaid the Government’s provisional pricing on the two routes. Following the Government’s thinking: the more congested and major the road, the higher the pricing grade CAR imposed.

For our test, the magazine assumed that the journeys would be made during the rush hour, therefore attracting the highest rates. A fair assumption – the Government predicts only 20 percent of drivers will easily change their time or mode of travel.

[Phill-type-R]

Sounds like a stupid * idea to me... Why are they trying yet again to force us out of more money? B**tards

[johnboy]

Sorry soap box time again - people join the ABD (Association of British Drivers) see www.add.org.uk or contact Susan Newby-Robson on email on enquiries@abd.org.uk - these people are on our side and are a highly organised, vocal organisation which has real strength and looks after all of us as motorists - not just with my pet hate speed scameras - but they actually have articles about road charging issues and public transport - where rail network have suggested 'peak time charging' to keep people off public transport at peak times i.e. rush hour. Is our goverment total m*ronic - it certainly seems so.

I wrote to the DFT (Department for Transport) and they (David Patterson one of Alistair Darlings cronies) wrote back to me to assure me that speed scameras would only placed where there had been a speed related accident. Jeremy Clarksons (yes him off Top Gear) in the Sun recently got local speed scamera partnerships down the M4 to own up and say some were indeed being fitted despite their promises wherever they felt like and for whatever they felt like - I have again written to the DFT and reminded them - will I get an answer? :rant: