Hi-tech C-charge is coming

Congestion charging is spreading across the UK – and the Government is making it even easier to take your cash!

Manchester is the next city to introduce road tolls. Commuters entering and leaving the city at rush hour will pay up to £5 a day. But unlike the London scheme, drivers going into the central zone outside rush hour will be exempt, and there’s no network of enforcement cameras.

Instead, the fee is made through a hi-tech system of in-car tags and overhead beacons – and the technology looks set to spread to the capital. Last year, Transport for London (TfL) made £55million in fines from drivers who didn’t pay, but tag technology will slash that sum dramatically. TfL said: “We have already trialled a tag-and-beacon system. The Mayor wants an easier payment method, and this is an option.” TfL’s contract with the supplier of the current system – which involves drivers paying online or by phone – comes to an end in November 2009.