Mobile phone operators and insurance firms could help run a national road pricing scheme, according to transport minister Dr Stephen Ladyman.

For national road pricing to gain public acceptance, costs must be kept to a minimum. This could be achieved using existing technologies, Ladyman told a conference in Westminster.

‘I don’t want to collect the payments or build a huge bureaucracy like “The Office of Road Pricing”, with 400 to 500 people sitting in Wales collecting payments,’ he said.

‘It would be better for mobile phone operators, or insurance firms who run pay-as-you-go motor insurance schemes, to do this.’

Global positioning schemes for cars already developed by mobile phone firms and insurers such as Norwich Union could be an option if linked to their commercial billing systems, he said.

But Ladyman believes the effects of tall buildings in urban areas, dubbed canyoning, means current global positioning schemes lack sufficient accuracy.

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling indicated last month that private sector firms could play a role in administering a national road pricing scheme (Computing, 10 November).