UK announce roads pricing trials

18 Sep 2008

The UK Department for Transport has announced that it has chosen seven companies to develop the technology to be used in pilot trials. This marks a deciding step forward concerning the plans for road pricing. The local authorities choosing to introduce pay-as-you-go road pricing schemes will use the technology developed.

Four companies - T-Systems, Trafficmaster, Sanef Tolling and Intelligent Mechatronic Systems - plan to work with volunteer drivers to develop a road pricing system that is accurate, reliable and safeguards users' privacy. The remaining three companies - Kapsch TrafficCom, Q-Free and Serco, will ensure drivers that the system operates fairly.

Local authorities planning road pricing trials currently include Cambridge, Durham, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds, and Reading.