Combatting congestion: the role of road traffic informatics

The author highlights the case for the introduction of a more equitable form of paying for road-use, that of on-line variable road-use pricing. Options for this include a simple fixed toll, variable cordon-based charging and congestion-pricing. All options would require state-of-the-art road traffic informatics to realise a solution. Even then road-use pricing will offer only a part solution for our increasing traffic congestion problems, and must be considered as one measure within a carefully designed package of measures. The author describes some of the potential benefits of using new and emerging technologies to combat congestion and demonstrates that the technology is no longer a stumbling block to the introduction of road-use pricing. Finally, the author offers a brief insight into the system concepts and the technology developed by the PAMELA consortium within the EC´s DRIVE programme