Results of the Cambridge experiment in congestion management

The issue of road-use pricing as an effective means of both managing road traffic demand and raising additional revenue for road construction is now back on the political agenda of many European governments, including that of the UK. It is clear that in many cases the collection of road-use charges through “stop-and-pay” manually-operated toll-plazas is unacceptable due to the sheer size of the plazas required and the delays caused to traffic. Electronic means of toll-collection from vehicles travelling at speed, using small communications devices in the vehicle, have been demonstrated in the UK and elsewhere. However, the performance of these systems is currently less than ideal for large-scale implementation. The ADEPT (Automatic Debiting and Electronic Payment for Transport) project has developed a new generation of road-use pricing technology, incorporating an `intelligent' communications transponder and smartcard in the vehicle for automatic non-stop payment. This paper outlines the design of this system and describes its use to demonstrate the principles of congestion metering in urban areas. Also, a brief description of the other planned applications within the ADEPT project are presented.