Australia: Car lobby calls for road-use charging

ALL motorists should carry a GPS-type transponder in their vehicles and, instead of paying fuel taxes, they should pay for every kilometre they drive, in varying amounts depending on what time they use the road.

This is the ambitious plan of the Royal Automobile Club, which is pushing the Federal Government and the Labor Party for an overhaul of fuel taxation.


The plan, backed by motoring groups, would work in a similar way to the way in which people are charged by phone companies depending on when they make a call, over what distance and how long it lasts.

Motorists would be rewarded for driving at off-peak times or in cars that used less petrol. Instead of the various taxes imposed on fuel, people would be charged on either their use of roads or on carbon emissions.

The Age