The Freight Transport Association has published a guide to the eleven potential road pricing schemes which have been promoted by the Department for Transport. Some schemes are intended to be developed by local authorities for specific areas, and may be a pre-cursor to the creation of a national road pricing scheme in the longer term.

The Association has identified a number of essential conditions that must be fulfilled in order for any scheme to gain its support. These include proposals that are a mix of policy actions to tackle congestion, improved school transport, relaxation of delivery curfews, alternatives for journeys to work and discounts for the adoption of environmental best practice.

The purpose of any road pricing scheme must be to reduce congestion, not raise money and the technology must be interoperable with other schemes in the UK and the rest of the EU. A further essential is that the costs and benefits to industry of a road pricing scheme can be measured.

The eleven schemes examined by the Association are in Cambridge, Durham, East Midlands, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds, Norwich, Reading, Tyne & Wear, West Midlands and Shropshire. It is now clear that the schemes at East Midlands, Norwich, Tyne & Wear, West Midlands and Shropshire are not going ahead.

The report is available from the FTA

http://www.fta.co.uk/information/road-pricing/road-pricing-0908.pdf