The Department for Transport (DfT) is inviting companies to provide the technology required to operate pay-as-you-drive road pricing schemes across the country.

The DfT is looking for one company to operate a trial and another to monitor the operator’s performance.

The department is pushing ahead with plans to trial the technology, possibly as early as next year, following the release of the draft Local Transport Bill to give local authorities the power to develop and introduce their own schemes.

It hopes the trials will demonstrate the capability and performance of road pricing technologies. But the technology must also be interoperable to ensure all data relating to road users, charging, payments and compliance can be securely exchanged trial operators.

The draft bill says the trials must use standard data formats so tags can be read by roadside equipment operated by any scheme, unique equipment numbers must be used to avoid duplication and standards for encryption and security must be met.

‘Congestion is projected to increase by 25 per cent in less than a decade and we can not simply build our way out of congestion,’ the bill says.

It says no decision has been made on whether road pricing will be rolled out nationally, but the DfT will provide up to £200m a year to local authorities from 2008/09 to support any trials.

Ten local councils are already working on proposals for their own road pricing schemes, with trials to potentially begin in spring next year and be up and running in five years.

The draft Local Transport Bill will provide the flexibility to match road pricing schemes to local conditions while remaining compatible with other schemes.