British gov't mulls road charging system for freight vehicles

LONDON, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Britain's Transport Secretary Chris Grayling confirmed Saturday the government is considering the first ever road charging system for freight vehicles.

It would mean that heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) have to pay a charge for each kilometer driven on British roads.

The measure is a response to the high number of foreign goods vehicles using British roads without paying towards the upkeep of the network. In a radio interview, Grayling said it was about creating a level playing field for British and international hauliers.

"Our hauliers often complain that a continental trucker comes in with a tank full of lower duty diesel, spends several days working in the country, goes away again and pays nothing towards the use of the roads. We already have a system in place that provides some limited contribution, but we're now consulting the industry," said Grayling.

The Road Haulage Association in Britain (RHA) said it was worried about Grayling's announcement, adding: "Although it's good news that more money is being spent on roads, it's not right to target only lorries with a new tax."

The Times newspaper in London said Saturday that the road-pricing plan was restricted to lorries, but industry figures predicted that it would act as a test bed for a universal system for all vehicles. The Labour government ten years ago ditched a similar scheme after a public backlash.

The Times quoted Duncan Buchanan, policy director at the RHA, who once worked as a senior civil servant at Britain's Transport Department(DfT), saying: "This is a precursor to road-user charging for every vehicle. Why would you introduce it just for lorries? The electrification of lorries -- so the loss of fuel duty revenue -- is not going to happen as quickly as it is for cars and other small vehicles...It seems we are facing a scenario where they are testing the technology on us."

A consultation exercise is now underway by the DfT to seek opinions on future road charging regimes.

In a separate announcement, the DfT said key "A" roads across the country could benefit from funding worth tens of millions of U.S. dollars to improve major roads.

More than 133 million dollars will be allocated for upgrading and improvement work along 8,000 kilometers of major routes. The work will be focused on bypasses, missing links, road widening and improvements at major junctions. Enditem