Charging systems must be technically robust and accurate but experience elsewhere suggests they need not be excessively complex and hence expensive. Put simply, the theoretical needs to move at the same pace as the practical, while recognising circumstances change and systems will evolve. Motorists in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Stockholm, Norway, Singapore, Australia, and North America are familiar with the idea that they pay as they use certain roads and this report shows how they receive better service in return.
We should be willing to embrace the messages of this report and recognise the benefits that new charging systems for roads have delivered in London and in many countries overseas. Far from being a vote-loser, the evidence is that if it is introduced in the right way road pricing can be perfectly acceptable to the majority of the population.
