Road pricing demonstrations project – introduction
Published 23 June 2011
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Demonstrations project on TDP road user charging
The demonstrations project was a technical research project designed to establish how any system of road pricing by time, distance, place (TDP) could operate reliably, accurately, and affordably while safeguarding privacy. The project did not seek to address the wider merits or otherwise of road pricing.
At the time of the project’s inception in 2007, most existing road pricing or charging systems worked on the basis of a single event, i.e. paying a toll to use a road, bridge or tunnel or for driving within a certain area such as the London Congestion Charge zone. This project set out to test if technology existed to target congestion more effectively, by where it occurs and when. To do this in a fair and effective way required more advanced technology and systems than were then being used in the UK, and these needed to be rigorously tested before any conclusions could be drawn.
Background to the demonstrations project
In May 2007, the department announced that it would work with industry to establish how road pricing by time, distance, and place TDP might operate reliably, accurately, and affordably while safeguarding privacy. To facilitate this, it set up the demonstrations project.
In September 2008, the department confirmed in the Official Journal of the European Union the names of the four companies selected to participate in the demonstrations project following an open competition – Intelligent Mechatronic Systems (UK), Sanef Tolling Ltd, T-Systems Ltd and Trafficmaster plc. Each of these contractors engaged 100 volunteer road users to help explore questions of privacy, accuracy and practicability.
A further 3 companies – Kapsch TrafficCom Ltd, Q-Free ASA, and Serco Ltd – were appointed to develop the systems necessary for both road users and scheme operators to be confident that the scheme was operating fairly.
The project’s key finding is that commercially run TDP charging systems (along with an associated payment regime) can deliver accuracy, privacy, and a trusted service. Further findings and explanations are contained in the project’s main report and supporting documentation: