Posted on 07/21/2002 2:00:55 PM PDT by vannrox
All cars will be fitted with a 'big brother' satellite tracking meter to charge drivers up to 45p a mile for every journey taken under radical plans to slash congestion on British roads.
The scheme, proposed by the Government's independent transport advisers, would see drivers handed monthly bills charging them for every single journey.
In a landmark report to be given to Ministers tomorrow, the Commission for Integrated Transport will recommend using existing Global Positioning System satellites to track vehicles via electronic 'black boxes' fixed to the dashboard of all vehicles.
The information recording the movements of motorists would be beamed back to computers at the various highway authorities or to a private company contracted to the Government - but with strict controls to protect privacy.
Prices would be set and adjusted periodically according to levels of congestion and could range from 45p a mile per car for central London in the rush hour to a penny a mile on rural roads. The average weekday charge would be 3.5p per mile on motorways and 4.3p a mile on other roads, with travel free off-peak and on quiet roads.
Tomorrow the commission will propose universal road pricing and tell Ministers that such a scheme could cut traffic levels by 5 per cent and almost halve congestion within 10 years.
In its report, the commission will warn that even huge improvements to train services and bus routes and massive road-building projects would not be enough to clear Britain's choked roads.
Professor David Begg, the commission chairman, told The Observer: 'We have the worst traffic jams in Europe. Without congestion charging we are not going to solve it - we can never road-build our way out of this or provide enough public transport.'
Begg said that even doubling the capacity of Britain's train, tram and bus network - a near-impossible task - would only absorb five years' worth of traffic growth before the roads became gridlocked again.
The report will recommend scrapping vehicle excise duty - the annual road tax disc - and reducing fuel duty by between 2p and 12p a litre in return for the launch of road pricing. It wants the Government to make motoring taxes fairer by linking them to congestion rather than car ownership or flat-rate fuel duty, which penalises rural motorists.
Drivers and hauliers who insist on commuting or delivering in the rush hour and using motorways at the busiest times would end up paying hundreds of pounds in additional costs, while others would save money.
The Government is also set to launch road-pricing for all lorries driving in Britain within two years. Trucks will be charged on the basis of the distance they travel, weight and emissions, with cleaner-engined vehicles paying less.
A senior source familiar with the proposals said the scheme was a 'Trojan horse' for universal road pricing, and if it proved successful for heavy goods vehicles it could be extended to cars by 2010.
Despite a denial by the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions, the source said: 'This is being driven by the Treasury, not Transport. Chancellor Gordon Brown can see what congestion is doing to efficiency in commerce and industry and every time he meets business leaders they bang on about it.'
The Government is unlikely to welcome Begg's report at such a sensitive time. Ministers, and Transport Secretary Stephen Byers in particular, are under fire for the collapse of Railtrack and the sell-off of air traffic control, as well as failing to solve the wider transport crisis.
The motoring lobby is likely to accuse the Government of being anti-car if it supports the report.
But Begg has already warned that, without serious moves to persuade motorists to leave their cars at home, the Government will not even achieve its own modest target of reducing national congestion by 6 per cent in 2010.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone is expected to announce this week that he is going ahead with congestion charging for London in 2003 at £5 a day for cars. Vehicles will be tracked via roadside beacons and gantries that display prices - with satellite technology likely to be used at a later date.
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The Democrats MUST not get word of this.
They don't even bother to discuss the possible ramifications of such a system as it concerns the tracking of individuals on a massive scale.
This is coming soon to a police state near you.
If you don't have anything to hide, why do you care if Fedgov tracks your every move?
I've seen articles about this in the Economist. This is not exactly a new idea to the statists in Britain. They've also started talking about it quietly here. It is the wet dream of those who just can't wait for Orwell's most terrifying visions to pale in comparison.
Actually, it's not new. I saw something twelve years ago which would make this one look benign.
Your driver's license is you car key, coded to your car. If your driver's license is invalid, it doesn't work. If the system tracks you in traffic violations, a mark is written to your card. Too many, and you're a pedestrian for a while. Your license got "killed" while you were driving: too bad, the next day it won't start your car.
Of course, the card could also be killed otherwise - for example if your vehicle was in an area off limits for you. And since the card would be carrying YOUR data, it could be read remotely to see who was actually driving.
Thing was shown around a bit, even got a bit of support, then was withdrawn.
However, it might go over well in England :).
Yeah, to slash congestion, that's the ticket, yeah. That's why they've decided to tax driving, to slash congestion, yeah.
If those browbeaten Brits don't rebel over this I'll cease to care what happens to them.
There you have the admission, this is about revenues. If they cannot build enough public transportto meet demand then clearly the intent is NOT to get people on public transport. Instead, they want the brits to continue driving their own cars, just paying for it. Its a tax, plain and simple. Like cigarette taxes the last thing they want to do is actually dissuade people from quitting.
The money isn't likely to be the most important thing by far. Just imagine punching up a map with a dot showing any vehicle you might have any concerns about...
Necessity being the mother-of-invention, this no doubt is the time when anti-satellite technology will begin to trickle down to non-government freedom fighters. The reason common citizen never attempted to kill satellites before was due to the fact that they were more useful than dangerous. Once governments attempt to use satellites against their citizens, a new market will arise to counter this measure, count on it.
Sending home the immigrants is an alternative.
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