Nabbed by traffic cops in space

By SIMON COLLINS

Motorists beware - satellite-based systems may soon charge for road use and catch speeding drivers anywhere.

A traffic expert from Northern Ireland, Professor Alan Woodside, will tell a conference on sustainable engineering and science in Auckland today that GPS (global positioning system) tracking could slash traffic congestion and dangerous driving.

New Zealand's Ministry of Transport is investigating the system to replace the hub meters that determine road-user charges for trucks, and Auckland Mayor John Banks' transport adviser, Tony Garnier, said yesterday that it should be looked at for all Auckland road-users.

"From a technological point of view, it could easily be adapted to a full tolling network and pricing system," he said.

It would be "very appropriate" that a present ministry-led Auckland road-pricing study and a national road-tolling strategy being prepared by Transit New Zealand should both look at a satellite-based system.

Professor Woodside, director of the Transport and Road Assessment Centre at the University of Ulster, told the Herald that all new vehicles in Britain would have GPS devices within five years.

Many trucking companies already used the system to keep track of their vehicles.

If introduced nationally, a GPS system would avoid problems caused by the recent introduction of congestion charging in London, where cameras record car numberplates as they enter the inner city. That system had cut congestion, but there was evidence that it had made people drive to suburban shopping centres instead.

"The irony of this is that people may then become even more car-dependent, as public transport cannot provide the network density required to compete with the private car [in the suburbs]," Professor Woodside said.

Britain's Commission for Integrated Transport had suggested a GPS system that would charge drivers for every trip, priced according to traffic levels, journey times and length.

"If you drive during off-peak periods on relatively uncongested roads you would pay a minimal charge, whereas drivers who insist on driving in peak periods on roads operating at peak capacity will pay significantly more for the privilege.

"This will make drivers think about the necessity of each journey they make."

Professor Woodside said heavy levies could be imposed on drivers making short trips within walking distances, and cheaper rates could apply for "green" cars that pump out less pollution.

"Road safety would be transformed by the use of such technology to monitor driver behaviour and actions before an accident.

"There is even the potential to issue penalty points without the need for speed/safety cameras or even traffic police."

Professor Woodside is working on an audio component that would also tell you through your car radio when you are entering a slower speed zone.

He was not bothered by fears of a "Big Brother" system tracking everyone's movements.

"You will always get people who want freedom of movement, but there is also a cost," he said. "Sustainability is thinking of the children of the future, not just thinking of self. You can't just live for yourself and think someone else will worry about the congestion and the pollution and the wear and tear on the roads that you cause."

Road Transport Forum chief executive Tony Friedlander said local trucking firms were not against using GPS technology to replace the present hubodometers, but he noted that Germany had recently shelved a satellite-based charging system after spending €730 million ($1.4 billion) on it, because of technical problems.

"It's technically more difficult than a lot of people realise when you start getting into the business of varying the load weights and things like that," he said.

"The German approach was also going to charge only for major thoroughfares, which would have led to the trucks going off the major thoroughfares on to the country roads."

Mr Friedlander warned that GPS systems could be evaded even by simple tricks such as putting metallic covers over the receivers.

GPS was probably the way of the future for funding roads, "but there are a few rather difficult technical issues to resolve first".