Road pricing in the United Kingdom

Road pricing in the United Kingdom used to be limited to conventional tolls in some bridges, tunnels and also for some major roads during the period of the Turnpike trusts. The term road pricing itself only came into common use however with publication of the Smeed Report in 1964 which considered how to implement congestion charging in urban areas as a transport demand management method to reduce traffic congestion.

Road pricing schemes in place in the UK as of 2012 include road congestion pricing in London and Durham; the London low emission zone which is a pollution charge scheme only affecting trucks with less efficient engines entering London; and the M6 toll, the only existing toll road on a strategic road in the UK. The Dartford crossings toll was retained as a demand management tool in 2003.

The various local and any national road pricing schemes were promoted by the Labour Government 1997-2010 which were then abandoned following strong public opposition. A heavy goods vehicle (HGV) road user charging scheme has been proposed by the current coalition government together with a suggested new ownership and financing model to fund new road construction.

In the 1960s the Smeed Report considered how to implement congestion charging.

In October 2002, the Durham congestion charge, England's first congestion charging scheme was introduced. It was restricted to a single road in that city, with a £2 charge. In 2003 the London congestion charge was introduced.

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