Road pricing scheme to use Galileo system

The government plans to use the forthcoming European satellite navigation system Galileo to support its road pricing scheme.

The Future of Transport white paper published last week outlined a national road charging initiative that would track the UK's 30 million drivers using satellite technology and charge them accordingly, dependent on when and where they drive.

In the Feasibility of Road Pricing in the UK report, which accompanied white paper, the government recognised that existing global positioning system (GPS) technology is prone to inaccuracies and unsuitable for any future scheme.

It believes Europe's Galileo system could be the solution.

'We estimate that the equipment necessary to deliver a full positioning charging scheme using satellite technology will not be available in a mass market, low cost form until at least 2014,' says the report.

'The launch of the Galileo satellite network, which is intended to go into commercial operation from 2008, will be a major step towards this particular solution, providing greater coverage and accuracy, even in the most challenging locations,' it says.