Sir: There is an even greater problem than traffic congestion and that is its consequential emissions of carbon dioxide which are steadily rising. It is this which should be targeted.
One way to do this would be to provide every road user with a "ration" of carbon dioxide. The allowance could be embedded in a smart card which deducts the carbon content each time fuel is purchased. The card would be issued with the annual or half-yearly tax disc. If the allowance was exhausted there would be a punitive tax added to each subsequent purchase of fuel. Alternatively carbon credits could be purchased from road users with a surplus of credits via a carbon trading scheme. At the same time it would provide a strong incentive to switch to more carbon efficient vehicles.
In each case the price would be set by government and adjusted to reflect the nation's performance in meeting its carbon dioxide abatement targets. Obviously there would need to be fine tuning to redress the imbalance between rural and urban residents and to allow for the disabled and pensioners. But this would be far more cost-effective than journey pricing based on satellite technology and would remove any suspicion that the prime purpose is to raise revenue.
PROFESSOR PETER F SMITH
An easier solution... limit all CO2 production to 1990 levels EVERYWHERE on earth.
This means China must shut down immediately.
This means 80% of Asia must shut down immediately.
Of course, it might be better to understand the impact of C02 (not speculate as is currently the fad) before making any dramatic changes. After all, we might find that C02 HELPS the environment in the long haul.