Is this another chance to keep a track of what we do, and control where we go and what we do. Will it be possible for people to obtain your movement.

Poor get hit the hardest, the poor cannot travel far but the rich control the roads. Anyway thoughts please, discuss:

Car charge trials 'in five years'


Pay-as-you go road charging could be trialled within five years, says Transport Secretary Alistair Darling.
The pilot scheme is likely to cover a large conurbation or region, he said. If it is a success a nationwide scheme could be in place as early as 2015.
Satellite tracking would be used with charges varying from 2p a mile on rural roads to £1.30 in congested areas.
Mr Darling said charging could replace road tax and fuel duty. It would leave half of motorists better off, he said.
Mr Darling explained details of his proposals in a speech to the Social Market Foundation in London on Thursday.
No more space?
The transport secretary says that his plans, which are unlikely to become a national reality before 2015-2020, are an attempt to prevent Britain's roads reaching "gridlock".
Mr Darling said he needed to build a consensus for such radical proposals and he acknowledged that road pricing was not an "easy option".
But he argued that "future generations would curse us" if politicians failed to live up the challenges of keeping traffic moving in such a "crowded island".
There was not enough space to simply build more roads, he said.
"Road pricing is not an easy option - there will be hard choices and difficulties along the way. But we need to face up to all this now," he said.
Opinion split
The plans have divided opinion.
Motorists' groups have reacted angrily to the proposals, and a Mori survey suggests 16% of drivers would refuse to have tracking devices fitted in their cars to allow the introduction of road-charging.
The survey suggested 34% of respondents opposed the introduction of charges for driving on congested roads at peak times, compared with 47% who supported the measure.
BBC Environment Correspondent Richard Black said opposition from motorists' groups could be an obstacle to Mr Darling's plans. Making the technology work could be another.
Bert Morris, director of the AA Motoring Trust, told BBC News: "The real issue is going to be public acceptance, trust in the government to keep its word over revenue neutrality and actually scrapping fuel tax and road taxes."
'No alternative'
There was "a lot to play for", he said.
"The public have to decide whether they are better off or worse off and politicians I think will respond to the public's will," he added.
Steven Joseph, director of the pressure group Transport 2000 backed road charging but argued many big questions had yet to be resolved.
"Will motoring tax overall rise to encourage people onto public transport? Will traffic be displaced from key arteries onto unsuitable local roads? How can we use the system to stop traffic growing? Will charges be varied according to the 'pollutability' of vehicles? Will it help us reduce carbon emissions?" he asked.
Mr Joseph called for the mileage rate for "gas guzzlers" to be twice or three times that levied on greener vehicles.
The Mori survey was carried out for IT consultancy Detica.
Detica's head of transport Grant Klein said the poll suggested Mr Darling might overcome public resistance if his scheme combined tracking technology with services attractive to motorists.
Mori conducted the survey by interviewing 1,075 British adults between 19 and 23 May - before Mr Darling announced the latest details of his proposals.

Burning Spear

We have toll bridges and stuff and now a few toll roads (they are getting more popular) built by private companies who then have the rights to charge toll for decades... That is old school. The Queen Elizabeth II bridge on the Dartford crossing part of the M25 motorway (ring road) around London is one example...

This new thing is about putting trackers in everybodys car as a mandatory thing and using Sattelittes to monitor how far people travel and tax them for that regardless of where they are driving and on what roads...

It's a bit spooky to me, Im actually suprised that the technology to do that is even available yet, sounds a bit advanced to me, monitoring EVERY car?? in the UK?? Wouldn't have thought it possible but if they are discussing it then it must be...

I don't see what is to stop people simply not having the trackers in their cars or removing themconfused3

Im not too clued up about the workings of Sattelites... will do some reading, but the numbers of ships crossing the sea and the numbers of cars in Britain?

How does it get a record of routes travelled if it doesnt track in real time? Even if it does it periodically its still an awful lot of cars to be watching...

Ahh the DVLA thing *slaps head* of course!

First up: BP my fellow Villastonian friendhow di do *Not many of us around* ;-)

@ BP: you say it will never work, just remember they said the congestion charge would not work in london now they extending and putting up the price.

@ Cockney boy, you are so right the poor will have to either walk or catch bus or train, train fairs are rising so it will more than likely be buses. Soon we might be charged to walk into another partthe city we live inbecause of congestion on the pavements.

@ DM And yes all the technology is in place and has been for time with regards to tracking cars the problem faced at the moment is Pricing, security and authenticity i suppose. Ie: How do we know the car which is travelling is not another car and someone else is paying for it. Just like identity fraud.

I was watching tv on this matterand the presenter had a device in his hand which told him exactly what road he was on. They also mentioned that it will used the technology which is used in Navigational system like Nav Man and palm tops.

I love technology but I believe it is being used to stifle the masses.

@ DM they might make it law to have in your car, just like road tax and insurance. Police would probably also have a device that could tell if the car is fitted with the device and if not, you will get slammed with an automatic £50 fine and 3 points.

I reckon this method is going to reveal the frighting extend at which our lives are being monitor, imagine that companies/government organisations will be able to analyse our travelling behaviour and manipluate our driving, forcingus into certain areas whilst avoiding others.

Wow think of the sinisterpossiblities hmmmm

So what have we got:

Electronic ID cards coming place
Pay as you Go Driving
We have Oyster Cards in london which track your every movement
We have computer which log every computer on the net


What else do we have folks

I get it @ Menzer

Makes sense now.

Though I did say you motorists should all get bikes like me and be green LOL

@ DM - That is all fine and dandy, having a bike I am all for saving the planet, However I aint riding a bike from south London to Lets say Wembley or even croyden or even Bristol, nottingham, Birmgham or even wolverhampton. Plus I dont like the thought of being hit by any form of object whilst riding a bike.

The train is long unreliable and you get some real testing people on trains, I also dislike public transport as people are just so miserable. We drivers are being forced off the roads and into a transport system which quite frankly is Rubbish. Maybe if this was a place where the sun actually shines then I might want to take the bus, but it is not, so standing and waiting in the cold is not my cup of Tea.

No to Pay as you go driving
No to Fuel Increase
No to Road Tax

;-)


I will be watching the develops on this with interests and if I can keep you updated I will.

time to leave the west that is what i say

Menzer

I was playing with the bike thing LOL...

Seriously though... more and more people, more and more cars... what is your solution to congestion? More roads?confused3

Something has to be done surely

@ DM - I know you was joking ;-)

Here's a good article

http://www.spy.org.uk/spyblog/archiv...rli.html#c2227