The automation of toll-collection and road-use pricing systems

Following recent experiments in Hong Kong on road-use pricing, and in Berlin and London on route-guidance, it is clear the technological advance in the fields of data-communications and road traffic 'informatics' (RTI) will reopen the longstanding debate as to how use of the road system should be charged for. In particular, if vehicles can be charged for road-use automatically, without stopping them to do so, then policy towards road-use pricing could be significantly changed, although the strong social and political objections may still remain to be overcome. The paper is not just centred on the technical issues posed by automatic toll-collection but clearly set within the social/political context surrounding any widespread implementation of such a policy. >