British drivers may soon pay by the mile for their use of public roads in the U.K. According to this article, the British government is seriously considering the implementation of a system where individual vehicles would be tracked by satellites in order for individual road-use fees to be assessed. While this news is likely to raise the hackles of privacy advocates who will undoubtedly lament the state’s possession of such information, it also demonstrates the feasibility of individually-tailored fees for the use of roads.
This type of technology, in the hands of private-transportation entrepreneurs, could facilitate more streamlined private transit provision, and offers an answer to those opponents of the free market who almost inevitably object to private ownership/management of roadways with comments about the inconvenience of toll-roads and the stop-start nature of their access ramps.
