Moving towards pay as you drive

It was not until the 1990s that successful road user charging schemes emerged in Singapore, London and Stockholm. The excuse was that `the technology is not yet proven', plus the difficulty of making a lucid case to politicians, businesses and individual travellers that all would benefit from the introduction of road pricing in congested cities and arterial routes. This paper shows that technology can now provide solutions to deliver innovative charging policies. We review key schemes and trials, show what can be learnt from them and how the technical innovations and the evolution in policy thinking permit schemes that make road pricing acceptable and relevant to today's congestion, energy, climate change and fiscal challenges. Moreover, these innovations enable policy makers and road operators to offer a `new deal' for road users where ownership and fuel taxes can be replaced by more effective “pay as you drive” (PAYD) schemes based on TDP (time, distance, place) charging.