THE MINISTER'S RESPONSE
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No decision yet
Transport Minister Stephen Ladyman is adamant that nothing has been decided about the format of any road pricing scheme, or even whether a road pricing scheme should be implemented nationally.
He says the government will carryout technology trials and local authorities will be given money to develop working local prototypes.
"Over the next few years we'll demonstrate more clearly how it works and offer possible design solutions," he says. "Then hopefully, as people become more convinced, we can firm up those decisions before the country as a whole has to make the decision about going to a national scheme.
But the minister suggests that any payment system should be national, so even if there are different systems working at the back end, it will appear to be one system with one payment method.
The government is also working with its counterparts in the European Union to consider a pan-European payment system.