ELECTRONIC ROAD CHARGING POST 112 ■ Can the Technology Reduce Congestion? March ■ How Acceptable Would It Be? Note 1998

ELECTRONIC ROAD CHARGING POST 112 ■ Can the technology reduce congestion? March ■ How acceptable would it be? note 1998

Charging drivers for road use could raise revenues for POSTnotes are intended to give Members an overview of transport projects and reduce congestion and improve issues arising from science and technology. Members can obtain further details from the PARLIAMENTARY the environment in urban areas. The results of initial OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (extension 2840). trials of both the technology and driver behaviour are becoming available, but many issues remain unre- BOX 1 ROAD TRAFFIC TRENDS solved. The Transport White Paper in May 1998, will be the opportunity for Government to clarify its view on the The forecasts under which the last Government’s policy was future role seen for such technologies. debated (1989 National Road Traffic Forecasts) projected a doubling of the distance travelled by car from 1989 to 2025. These This briefing examines recent experience, current overestimated traffic growth because they assumed that road research and its implications. capacity would continue to expand to meet demand and thus underestimated the constraining effects of congestion. The latest BACKGROUND (1997) projections published by DETR expect traffic in 2031 to be 36-84% higher than in 1996 (Figure). Looking at different types of roads, the forecasts suggest that traffic on motorways might double Projections of future traffic consistently show substan- by 2031, while that on urban roads might increase by 31-70%. tial increases in demand (Box 1). Previously, such Journey times are also expected to increase - possibly doubling on estimates were used as an input to defining the need for urban motorways by 2031. new roads but, following the recognition by the Depart- ment of Transport (DoT) in 1994 that new roads gener- Figure TRAFFIC GROWTH AND PROJECTIONS, 1980-2031 ate additional traffic, the previous Government ac- 100000 high forecast cepted that the capacity necessary to meet future fore- 80000 cast traffic demand could never be provided. Policy 60000 low forecast thus moved from the old ‘predict and provide’ ap- 40000 proach to one of demand management. recorded growth 20000 00 Road user charging (RUC) could have a role to play in billions vehicle km 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 reducing overall demand and the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP) concluded in 1994 EXPERIENCE TO DATE (and also in 1997) that RUC could help reduce the dominance of motor traffic if local authorities were Motorways/Toll Crossings given powers to introduce RUC in their own areas. The last Government set in train technology-development Charges for using motorways are well-established and proving trials (see later), envisaging that motor- abroad but limited to tolled estuary crossings in the UK way charging could make more effective use of the (Table 1). At the Dartford Crossing, ~46 million toll existing network, provide an extra source of finance for payments are made each year, of which 7.5M (15%) are improving roads, make users more aware of the costs made using the DART-TAG automatic payment sys- of road use, and help encourage private sector involve- tem. Worldwide, there are currently ~17,000 toll-gated ment in road provision. Legislation was introduced to lanes of which 36% are equipped with automatic vehi- 1 allow tolling on privately financed roads (through the cle identification (AVI) antennas such as DART-TAG . 1991 New Roads and Street Works Act). By 1997, the capital cost of these schemes had reached ~£2.7B and they generated ~£2B/yr in revenue. Main- At the local level, the 1997 Road Traffic Reduction Act tenance costs account for about 10% of revenue. requires local authorities to draw up plans to reduce traffic in their areas. Also, the Road Traffic Reduction Table 1 EXAMPLES OF ELECTRONIC MOTORWAY (United Kingdom Targets) Bill is currently before Par- TOLLING PROJECTS liament and would give the Secretary of State powers to Country Scheme Commenced Electronic transactions set national targets for reducing traffic if other mecha- (million/yr) (%) nisms failed. Neither however, provides the necessary legal authority for local authorities to introduce UK Dartford Crossing 1991 7.5 16% Mersey Tunnels 1993 3.8 15% RUC schemes. Questions on whether and how traffic Severn Crossing 1993 1.5 15% growth might be restrained using pricing signals fea- Canada Highway 407, Ontario 1997 14 50% tured again in the present Government’s consultation Australia Melbourne due 1999 36 100% on developing an integrated transport policy, and may Source: Transport Technology Publishing thus feature in the White Paper in Spring 1998. P. O. S. T. n o t e 1 1 2 M a r c h 1 9 9 8

The vast majority of these schemes comprise adding Box 2 ELECTRONIC ROAD USER CHARGING SYSTEMS the capability for electronic payment onto an existing lane at a toll plaza and thus require drivers to slow There are two main components to ERUC systems: down, and perhaps change lane, to pass through. The ‘front-end’ equipment which includes the systems for: ideal system would automatically charge drivers with- • detecting a vehicle in the road (e.g. via microwave beacons fixed out their having to alter their driving behaviour. Such to overhead or road-side gantries) in order to classify the type a full-speed free-flow tolling system could require: of vehicle and verify its payment system; • enforcing a penalty if a vehicle does not have valid payment • a 'dumb tag' or an on-board unit to carry a payment system by taking photographs of number plates; system with vehicle details and amounts of credits • communicating with a vehicle to transact the toll charge, using • means of detecting the vehicle and ‘talking’ with the either simple ‘dumb’ tags or sophisticated ‘smart-card’ systems. on-board unit or interrogating the tag; ‘back office’ systems for: • the ‘back office’ systems to work out charges, issue • handling the very large amounts of data involved in tolling bills and enforce the tolls. potentially millions of vehicles each day; • verifying the transactions (and communicating with the enforce- The requirements of such systems are described in ment agencies in the event of a violation); more detail in Box 2. To date, the only operational full- • handling payments, managing accounts and generating bills; speed free-flow electronic RUC system is on the 69-km • integrating systems to ensure that all communicate. Highway 407 in Canada (see Table 1) which, since In practical terms, a driver could fit an on-board unit (OBU) onto the October 1997, employs radio communications between windscreen, into which is inserted a smart-card carrying information overhead gantries and transponders on the windscreens on the registration number of the vehicle and the amount of credit of passing vehicles. Vehicles without transponders are remaining. As the driver passes a road-side beacon, charges would detected and a video image of the rear number plate is be deducted automatically, and displayed on the OBU. taken at entry and exit points, and drivers billed later. Charges might be levied in a number of ways: Following an early underestimate of demand, there are • where vehicles cross from one area (or ‘cordon’) to another; now 100,000 vehicles fitted with transponders (i.e. in • depending on the level of congestion on a particular road; 50% of vehicles using the road), and in its first year, the • depending on the levels of pollution in an area. operators expect to receive $70M (rising to $100M per The driver might be able to pay the toll through: • an ‘electronic purse’, where the road-side beacons deduct year by 2000). money from a pre-paid card (cf phonecards); UK trials for electronic RUC for motorways were pro- • a smart-card or tag linked directly to the driver’s bank account for instantaneous payment (as with debit cards); posed by DoT in July 1995, and 8 industrial consortia • a smart-card or tag linked to an account held elsewhere for later expressed interest in participating. Six consortia planned billing and payment. microwave systems to communicate between road- side gantries and in-car units (the main differences related to the size of the microwave beams used, and range of environmental conditions, and for both normal and the methods of locating, classifying and charging a unusual traffic manoeuvres.” Also, both systems could vehicle). One consortium proposed infrared communi- capture images of violators in a wide range of traffic, cations, while the final system was based on using speed, weather and lighting conditions. global positioning systems - where an in-car unit would Urban Areas use satellites to determine the vehicle's position.

Before the trials began, however, six consortia dropped There are no urban systems in place anywhere in the 2, but out; leaving only those led by Bosch-Telecom and GEC world on which working models can be based Marconi - both of whom were operating 5.8 GHz micro- some local trials are underway in the UK funded by wave systems. Two trial sites were established on DETR in collaboration with local authorities (Box 3). opposite sides of a 2.2km circuit test track, with gantries These studies have led to some concerns about the and track-side facilities such as power and communica- prospects for developing a viable urban ERUC scheme. tions links to a central control centre. Tests covered While the early demonstration of the basic technology small to large cars, multi-purpose vehicles, light and in Cambridge can be viewed as a technical success, the heavy goods vehicles, motorcycles, coaches and buses. consultant’s study in London showed how difficult it Results are available for 50,000 tolling transactions for would be to implement congestion charging in large each system tested. On the basis of these, TRL con- cities and also the likely extent of public resistance to cludes “the trials have demonstrated the ability of both such schemes despite the potential benefits. This caused systems to toll vehicles at a variety of vehicle speeds, for a 2. Although not an electronic RUC scheme, Singapore has had a paper- based licence system to restrict entry to the city centre and found that 1. These use read-only ('dumb') tags fitted to the offside bottom corner traffic levels dropped by 20%; an electronic version is now planned. of the windscreen, which are interrogated by antennae mounted on poles Proving trials are being completed now, and full implementation will adjacent to the lane. A signal is then sent to a central control office, where begin in March. Also, Trondheim, Oslo and Bergen in Norway have bills are generated and sent to customers. operated a tolled ring cordon for some years. P. O. S. T. n o t e 1 1 2 M a r c h 1 9 9 8

Box 3 URBAN ROAD USER CHARGING TRIALS Figure 2 COSTS OF ELECTRONIC TOLL COLLECTION

Cambridge - In 1993, a demonstration trial showed that it was AA

AAAA 24% AA

technically possible to install and operate a system comprising AAAA 'front end' equipment AA

road-side beacons and on-board units. Vehicles also had displays, 36% AAAA AA

systems integrationAAAA AA

showing the distance travelled and the cost of the journey. Vehicles AAAA AA

were charged according to the level of congestion, as determined AAAA 3% AA

AAAA enforcement and AA from the distance travelled over certain distances, but this encour- AAAA classification equipment aged drivers to speed through cordons to make up for congested spots, and reduce the charge. As this raised safety concerns, such 37% back office a charging scheme is no longer considered suitable. Source: Transport Technology Publishing London - In 1995, the DoT supported a mathematical modelling straints such as a small sample size. Also, for legal study of the effect of congestion pricing on traffic in London. The reasons, volunteers were not paying real tolls in the study looked at two illustrative charging schemes. The simplest experiment, but were given smart-cards complete with was a single cordon for central London, defined by the inner ring money credits to a certain level, and allowed to keep the road. The second, comprised the central area with two additional concentric cordons, each split into four sectors. The effects of low balance on the card at the end of the trial period. This and high charges on traffic and journey speeds under each scheme motivation to reduce car use may not be the same as were investigated, and the results are summarised in the Table. when drivers must make decisions with their own money. TABLE EFFECTS OF CONGESTION CHARGING ON CENTRAL LONDON TRAFFIC ISSUES

Charge Single Cordon Triple Cordon traffic speed traffic speed Is the Technology Ready? low (£2) -8% +10% -5% +9% Trials to date suggest that the basic technologies re- high (£8) -22% +32% -17% +26% quired for communication between beacons and vehi- Source: MVA Consultants cles, and for automated payment are capable of dealing Significant traffic reductions and savings in travel time resulted with with a range of traffic and weather conditions. How- an £8 charge to enter Central London, and this led also to reduced ever, experience of actual implementation costs and pollution levels along certain road corridors. The capital costs were practicality are limited to small-scale motorway charg- estimated to be £240-340M, and the system would cost ~£150M/ ing schemes operating on previously tolled roads or (in yr to operate. The revenues generated would be expected to be 3- the case of Highway 407) on a new road built specifi- 5 times the operating costs (including enforcement), and the cally to include ERUC. Because ERUC equipment has consultants estimated that over the 30 year life of the system, up not yet been mass-produced, the current £2.7B imple- to £3B would be generated, thus providing a significant revenue stream for re-investment into public transport. Nevertheless, mentation costs of electronic toll booths provides little because of the sheer size and complexity of the road network, the guidance as to the costs of implementing free-flow technology was considered not yet sufficiently advanced. Also, the tolling systems. There are other uncertainties; for level of public acceptability was not high enough to make conges- example, at toll plazas, electronic payment is voluntary tion charging in London feasible for at least 10 years. (i.e. cash lanes are still accepted), and it is easy to detect Newcastle, Bristol and Leicester - In 1997, small scale trials violators. On a free-flow system however, technologies began to determine drivers’ reactions to urban road tolls. Field trials would need to be more sophisticated, and would need are aimed at studying drivers' responses to a range of RUC tariff to be be able to cope with large amounts of fast-moving structures, to identify ways of reducing diversion from charged traffic, creating huge volumes of high-speed data and roads, and to improve estimates of the benefits of charging. The placing heavy demands on ‘back-end’ systems for data results of the experiments should be published by the end of 1998. handling and processing. On roads which had not been Early indications are that drivers are quite resistant to switching tolled before, enforcement might also be very demand- from their vehicles; charges of £3 per day are reported as reducing ing. commuter car usage by only 15%, and the toll needs to be set higher (perhaps £5-10) to deter many from driving at peak times. Such As Figure 2 shows, under the current system of elec- trials also reinforce the danger that drivers may simply divert to non- tolled roads to avoid the charge, and other difficulties of evasion. tronic toll booths, back-end systems already comprise the lion’s share of costs, and so for free-flow or urban attention to switch to smaller urban centres as possible ERUCs, they may become even more dominant. In this sites of early ERUC introductions - hence the experi- respect, many of the trials to date have concentrated so ments currently underway in Newcastle, Bristol and far on ‘front end’ equipment, and not yet examined Leicester. Until the full results of the trials are available, whether back-end systems would be able to function it is not possible to know urban road pricing's effects on adequately. Most observers in Europe recognise that car use, and there are also questions how far these further research will be necessary to clarify this, as well studies will deliver definitive results because of con- as other aspects such as diversion to untolled roads etc. P. O. S. T. n o t e 1 1 2 M a r c h 1 9 9 8

In contrast to the relatively ‘straightforward’ applica- playing field' between private and public transport tion of ERUC to traffic flowing freely on a motorway, modes. While ERUC remains an option for addressing urban road networks are complex and provide many the issue, other fiscal instruments could also come into opportunities for diversion from tolled roads to side- play to redress such market distortions. roads and ‘rat-runs’, many interruptions to flow, and a greater variety of road-users and driving. Technology These issues are not unique to the UK and other coun- which demonstrates resilience in these conditions has tries have sought to develop a dialogue with the public not been tested or validated, and much research re- and to understand what the ‘informed’ public might mains to be done on the communications technologies see as justified. As mentioned in POST’s earlier report themselves, the in-car and payment systems they use, on sustainability in transport, the Danish Consensus and the charging formula. Critical too will be the Conference on the future of private transport distilled violation detection and enforcement methods, and the out three primary principles: - back-office systems and systems integration with other • shift from fixed to running costs by increasing 'telematics' applications, such as route guidance and petrol price; traffic information systems. Added to this technical • vehicle taxes should reflect the environmental im- uncertainty, the Bristol and Leicester trials aimed at the pact and encourage clean and energy-saving cars; ‘psychology’ of ERUC leave much uncertainty over • restore the 1982 price differential between public real effects on behaviour; here preliminary indications and private transport (when public transport was underline other findings that willingness to forego relatively much cheaper). commuting by car is related to the quality and availabil- ity of alternatives, so that substantial investment in Where the 'macro' picture still leaves local road use too public transport alternatives may be needed before high, ERUC remains an option to develop, but if ERUC ERUC in urban areas is publicly acceptable. is pursued, results so far underline the importance of it not just being seen as a 'technology' challenge, as many Road Pricing in Context other issues would need to be addressed in parallel with further technological development. For instance, With the current emphasis on developing an integrated the philosophy of ERUC links to public acceptability, transport policy, not all the previous Government's and thus motives need to be clear and supported by the aims for RUC apply to the same degree. Principally, the public. Ownership may be important (whether LA, or initial prospect that revenue would be devoted to build- private agencies). The more advanced systems could ing more roads is clearly no longer valid; instead, there also allow vehicle movements to be tracked very effi- is a broad consensus between many environmental and ciently and potentially lead to tensions with some transport organisations that ERUC's acceptability to views of privacy, making dialogue with the Data Pro- the general public is linked to monies raised being tection Registrar and the DVLA desirable. When it recycled into providing otherwise unaffordable trans- comes to practicalities, there are many other questions, port amenities (e.g. the proposed tunnel under Stone- including where best to focus RUC, collateral effects of henge ) and broader public transport projects3. toll charges (e.g. on diversions to non-charged roads), possible effects on local economies, and international But increasingly, the emphasis is on reducing the compatibility (both within the UK and the EU). amount of vehicle use where key factors are absolute and relative costs. At present, many of the costs of Given these complexities, the next major step towards private transport, such as vehicle purchase, road tax more technologically advanced ERUC systems is likely and insurance are paid in advance of using the vehicle, to require trials with ‘real’ money and real decisions in and decisions whether to use the car on a specific specific locations. At present, current legislation does journey seldom take this into account. Costs are more not permit such trials, making this a key issue for the likely to be seen as the ‘marginal cost’ - basically the White Paper on integrated transport to address. Mean- fuel, which RCEP found to be ~25% of total costs (even while, while substantial uncertainties remain over tech- less if accidents, pollution and other external 'costs' are nical and implementation issues, the option remains to included). In contrast, the fare for each journey on apply simpler, non-electronic charges (e.g. a supple- public transport contributes to all costs - fuel, vehicle mentary vehicle licence for those driving into a city), and infrastructure. In this context, DETR figures show notwithstanding the difficulty of enforcement. that motoring costs in 1996 were 2% lower in real terms than in 1974, while rail and bus fares have increased by 75% and 58% respectively (while dispos- able income has increased by 62% over the same period). Thus, many point to there being an 'unlevel'

3. Whether toll revenues might be hypothecated in such ways is being Parliamentary Copyright, 1998. (Enquiries to POST, House of Commons, 7, looked at by the Treasury as part of a general review of motoring taxation. Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. Internet http://www.parliament.uk/post/home.htm)