The British government is mulling a plan to avoid traffic gridlock by imposing road charges on motorists who would be tracked by satellite, a cabinet minister said in remarks published Sunday.
Transport Secretary Alistair Darling told several dailies that drivers could pay up to 1.34 pounds (2.42 dollars, 1.98 euros) per mile in road charges, as a replacement for fuel tax and possibly road tax.
"If we don't do anything it's pretty clear to me, when you look at all the trends, we would face complete gridlock," Darling told The Sunday Times.
"More and more cars will grind to a halt and the generations to come will curse those people of my generation who didn't do anything about it."
Under the proposals, all cars and trucks would have to be fitted with a "black box" which would track their journeys via a satellite system.
A feasibility study carried out last year suggested that charges could range from two pence a mile on rural roads to 1.34 pounds a mile for peak-time journeys on the country's busiest roads and motorways.
Although the system could not be introduced for at least a decade, Darling said decisions would have to be made in the current parliament on whether to proceed with the scheme.
He said he intended to present a bill before the next general election to establish a pilot project in a large urban area, such as Greater Manchester or the West Midlands within the next five to six years.
Darling acknowledged that he would need to build a consensus over the course of the next parliament if the scheme was to win public acceptance.
Although road-pricing schemes operate on some highways in the United States and Australia, Darling said that "nothing on this scale has ever been attempted".
Darling made similar remarks to the The Observer and The Independent on Sunday.
