The IET Road Pricing Conference 2008 is the sixth in a series held since 1999. This former one day conference has been extended to a two day event due to advances in this field and the demand for information.

Road Pricing 2008 includes Road User Charging, Road Tolling, Congestion Charging, Electronic Fee Collection and covers the use of electronic systems to identify vehicles travelling on particular roads and to charge them appropriately. Prices may be applied in accordance with the volume of congestion, the type of road, the time of day and the distance travelled - Time-Distance-Place–based charging.

Electronic systems used to collect traffic information include microwave transponders, number-plate recognition systems, GNSS and mobile radio.

Sharing knowledge

Road Pricing 2008 provides an opportunity to present results, and to share practical knowledge, based on trials and proven experience:

• Operational experience from existing schemes
• New applications of existing technology
• Development of emerging technologies
• Innovation and new solutions
• Policy development and implementation
• TDP charging
• Pollution and emissions-based charging schemes
  

Current initiatives

Across the world there are numerous current initiatives. These include:

• UK TIF initiative, upgrades to London’s Congestion Charging Scheme, the introduction of the Low Emission Zone and proposals for High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes
• Tolling schemes in Germany, Switzerland and Austria
• Truck tolling scheme in France
• National road pricing scheme in The Netherlands
• Eastern European initiatives in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia
• North and South American schemes such as the Toronto Highway 407, GPS trials in Washington State, the spread of EZ-Pass and Chilean schemes
• Melbourne CityLink, Queensland Motorways Ltd and the New Zealand national scheme in Australasia
• Asian schemes in Singapore, Malaysia and Japan.