British roads aren’t getting any quieter and with a record number of drivers on the UK motorway network it seems that the problem is not going to go away.

But one revolutionary thinker believes that a solution could be in sight – charging drivers for using roads at busy times.

Professor Roger Vickerman, from the University of Kent has studied the UK’s gridlocked roads, drivers stuck in jams for an average of 31 hours, and he thinks the answer could be widespread road tolls.

"Once again road congestion has hit the headlines with a report that UK drivers spend an average of 31 hours a year in traffic jams," the traffic boffin said on thesun.co.uk

"What is needed is a nationwide system of charging for roads by use – road pricing.

"We already have blunt instruments such as the London Congestion Charge, but a sophisticated system of electronic tolling would charge drivers for their actual use of the system and by differentiating by time of day can encourage those with flexibility to adjust their journeys to times of lower traffic volumes."

"The current system of charging motorists is a tax on car purchase and ownership, and doesn’t distinguish by area of residence or actual use.

"Residents of rural areas, many of whom have no alternative to using a car, typically travel on the least congested roads, but pay the same in road tax and fuel duty.

"Such drivers would be better off under a system which charged for the actual use of roads that reflected levels of congestion.

"The only solution is one that uses price as a means of allocation – that’s how we charge for the alternatives such as bus, rail or air.

"The overall cost to road users would be less; the estimated average cost of that 31 hours of wasted time is £1,168; that would pay for a lot of miles."

Vickerman’s system appears to penalise those living in cities who commute during rush hours, a large percentage of the population which might not consider having to pay for their journey to work an appealing answer to the congestion problems.

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