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| 1.8M motorists signed a petition objecting to road pricing |
The measures, included in the draft Local Transport Bill, would allow local councils to introduce schemes on a trail basis. Up to ten councils have expressed an interest.
Ministers are seeking to trial approaches to road user charging through local pilots before pressing ahead with plans for a national scheme.
The Government is flying in the face of public opinion to an extent. Despite the largely successful introduction of road charging in London, which has now been extended, around 1.8M motorists signed a public petition on the Number 10 website opposing plans for a national pricing scheme.
The road transport industry is also unconvinced of the benefits of the approach. An on-line opinion poll conducted amongst trade visitors and exhibitors to trade show Traffex in Birmingham this year found that 64% of respondents were against the plans.
Nevertheless, a number of urban areas are considering road pricing as part of wider transport proposals under the government’s Transport Innovation Fund scheme. Manchester, for example, has outlined plans for charges to apply on 15 major routes into the city. However, the proposals were rocked recently after the region’s three non-Labour councils withdrew their support, claiming information was being withheld.
Rochdale, Stockport and Trafford councils took the decision in April, when the Greater Manchester Transport Authority failed to release details of its TIF bid at a transport meeting.
The rebel councils claimed the GMPTA was deliberately delaying details of the scheme until after the local elections in May, by which time it would be too late for public consultation before the bid was submitted to the Government in July. The PTA refuted the claims. 
