Plans for separate motorway lanes that allow drivers to pay for the privilege of beating congestion are to receive a boost this week the Sunday Times reports.

Ministers are to award contracts to begin trials next year, which could see motorists choosing to pay around £5.00 to use a special toll lane. While the idea seems simple, there is always the possibility that motorists will weigh up the cost of wasted fuel, when sat idly in stationary traffic and will choose to pay the extra £5.00, perhaps extending congestion further. 

The Department for Transport (DfT) told the national newspaper that this type of tolling is being considered for one lane on any stretch of motorway that is due to be widened. Other schemes include hard-shoulder running which is being trialled in Birmingham and a high occupancy lane for cars carrying at least one passenger which is being trialled on the M62/M606 junction outside Bradford.

Not everyone approves of the scheme, Vicki Butler-Henderson, presenter of Fifth Gear, told the Sunday Times; “We already pay so much to use the roads – congestion charge, road tax, petrol duty – so I can’t believe the government are even thinking of doing that,”

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