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There is a range of major road pricing initiatives either underway or planned across Europe, ranging from congestion charges to toll roads, making it increasingly likely over the next few years that drivers will come across them. This makes it important that some level of consistency exists and towns and cities don't operate in isolation.
In the UK the London Congestion Charge is well established with several other towns and cities across the country considering following suit. However, based on the various plans to roll out road pricing and congestion charging across the country it appears that there is no common plan to ensure that UK schemes are aligned.
It would seem sensible the basic characteristics of a congestion charge should be constant whether you are in the north or south of the country. However, comparing the London system with proposals for Manchester it is clear that timings, detection and payment methods will differ. If you throw Bath, Bristol and Durham into the mix it becomes clear that drivers will face varying sets of road charges.
Across Europe, different schemes seek different outcomes. Some exist purely to raise revenue while others aim to reduce congestion and redistribute the number of vehicles on the roads at different times of the day. Some have environmental objectives and others provide a combination of the above.
Inconsistency causes confusion and business drivers who travel on an international basis will face a disparate set of charging zones. For example: on a trip across Europe the motorist could come across the London Congestion Charge which they pay over the phone, travel through France where they stop at payment booths for certain motorways, pay another congestion charge in Italy, but this time at a city pay point, and then a motorway toll in Hungary using the time-based Vignette system.
With the UK's roads getting busier and congestion worsening it looks likely that road pricing will increase over the coming years. With varying schemes appearing across the country and no clear policy on how these schemes should operate the likelihood is that drivers will become confused and annoyed.
Road pricing is not yet commonplace so now is the time to establish some clear and consistent road pricing principles on a Europe wide basis. As the introduction of charging schemes becomes more prolific without a clear policy we could end up with a very disjointed system.
As a starting point, a single payment method, whether that be card based or online, and standard road signage would make it far easier for drivers on European travel to comply with road charging. Business drivers having to cope with finding their destination after a long journey can do without the added complexity of bespoke and unfamiliar road charging systems.
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