National satellite road pricing scrapped

Plans for a nationwide satellite road pricing system are expected to be scrapped today.

Instead Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly will unveil plans to turn hard shoulders on motorways into an extra lane to ease congestion, according to reports.

One of the four lanes may then be reserved either for vehicles carrying more than one person or for motorists willing to pay a toll. It is not clear whether motorcyclists would have to pay.

MCN has campaigned against nationwide road pricing since the Government announced plans for a pay-per-mile scheme with no assurance bikes would be exempt.  

The newly created motorway lanes may still operate on a pay-per-mile basis but vehicles would be tracked using roadside beacons rather than satellites.

The hard shoulders would be replaced by emergency lay-bys every 500 metres.

Kelly is expected to present the plans as a compromise between the need to tackle congestion and public opposition to a “spy in the sky” national scheme.

It follows a trial of turning the hard shoulder into an extra lane on the M42 near Birmingham.  

Ruth Kelly will say in her keynote speech today that the scheme should be extended as soon as possible.

Keep checking this site for updates.