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Car number plate cameras 'first step towards tolls'

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Published Date: 18 February 2007
By MURDO MACLEOD
POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
MOTORING organisations and opposition MSPs expressed concern yesterday that the new £1.25m number-plate recognition camera network was the first step towards introducing road tolls in Scotland.
The Executive says the scheme is designed to track drivers to analyse journey times and identify congestion hot-spots to get to grips with traffic jams.

But opposition MSPs have pointed out that the scheme is one of the essential parts of the pla
nned road-tolling scheme, which has attracted furious opposition from drivers. They have also accused ministers of imposing a surveillance system on the quiet.

Transport Scotland, the Executive's road, rail and ferry quango, is seeking contractors to supply and install a network of 200 automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR) cameras along Scotland's trunk roads.

The £1.25m contract will see the cameras linked to Transport Scotland's new traffic headquarters on the outskirts of Glasgow so that the journey times and congestion data can be analysed and relayed to other motorists via roadside screens.

However, motoring organisations also called for ministers to come clean on whether the cameras would be used as part of a road-tolling system.

Scottish Tory transport spokesman David Davidson said: "This is nothing more than a premeditated move to introduce road-tolling by the back door. It doesn't matter whether you have a gizmo under the bonnet or not, they will track you. We should be worried about the civil liberties issues too."

A Transport Scotland spokeswoman said that the agency would not be retaining vehicle data and that they had no role in implementing road tolls. "Transport Scotland's purpose for these cameras is to generate journey time information," she said. "Any decision to implement road-tolling in Scotland would be a decision for Scottish ministers, not the Agency."

A Scottish Executive spokeswoman said: "Transport Scotland are using this equipment as a way to analyse travel times. It is not linked in any way to the issue of road pricing. As the data will not be stored, there will be no civil liberties issues."



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  • Last Updated: 17 February 2007 6:49 PM
  • Source: Scotland On Sunday
  • Location: Scotland
  • Related Topics: Road tolls , Transport policy
 
1

SouthernSkye,

Currently Cologne 18/02/2007 10:53:29

"Transport Scotland's purpose for these cameras is to generate journey time information," she said. "Any decision to implement road-tolling in Scotland would be a decision for Scottish ministers, not the Agency."

HOW? People stop, go to shops, take a leak, visit friends, get lost, forget things and return home etc etc. Unless the vehicle is monitored for 100% of the journey, any times indicated would be false due to variables such as those I mention above.
So, IF the system is for indicating journey times, it is not fit for purpose and a waste of public money as it will always indicated longer times than are actual.

2

Toast,

18/02/2007 11:18:58

Why bother to ask MSP's their intentions,they are a bunch of lying bast**ds

3

lisa,

perth 18/02/2007 11:20:28

Once Douglas Alexander and his cronies start confiscating and crushing the cars of pensioners who didn't pay, the resulting protests will make the poll tax riots will look like a beetle drive at the WRI.

4

Peter S,

Fife 18/02/2007 11:48:53

This is a highly unsafe way to identify motor vehicles.
One only has to spend a few quid to get someone else's plate to attach to your motor. Choose wisely and someone else gets the bill - brilliant.

5

Unbeliever,

18/02/2007 11:50:48

What is this obsession with control that our leaders have. We are the most watched population on Earth. Do we have the lowest crime rate? Nowhere near.

6

Statsman,

18/02/2007 12:58:24

A Scottish Executive spokeswoman said: "Transport Scotland are using this equipment as a way to analyse travel times. It is not linked in any way to the issue of road pricing. As the data will not be stored, there will be no civil liberties issues."

Aye right. If it can be used to snoop and tax, it will be used to snoop and tax. That's the way our politicians are.

7

Duncan,

Scotland being watched 18/02/2007 13:53:00

This is being driven by vested interests in the surveillance industry who stand to make billions from installation, servicing and contracts for this equipment. These industries have powerful professional lobby consultants working for them. There is also the self interest of jobs for the boys after they have milked their political careers dry.

I think the George Orwell syndrome takes second place to these interests. But given the nature of politics now, and the scare tactics the security services use to get us to accept any law and any intrusion, it all dovetails perfectly together. They have the ball at their feet. Even when they get two million hits on their petition web site, the utterly odious Douglas in Alexanderland still sneers at us, and says he will go ahead.

Vote for the SNP, if for no other reason than to frighten the career politicians who hold the public in such contempt. To allow Labour back into power would be a very frightening scenario that this country should not contemplate. Imagine the boost that would give to the egos of these greedy self serving dictators.

8

Hadrian,

18/02/2007 15:19:32

So much for 'Freedom of the Kings (or Queens ) Highway'.
Every road in the country to be a toll road, even the street outside
your house.
although I was hearing that in Fife, plan is to charge every-one to park outside their house, so much per year.
If these fools had not made such a cock-up of transport in the last 60 odd years , we wouldnt have the problems now.
In the 1950's buses avery 10 to 15 minutes, now buses are an endangered species.
So many houses built in this area in the last 2 to 3 years that between Alloa and Stirling is grid lock in the rush hours.
You could mistake it for Tesco's car park.
So much planning fore sight they need white sticks.

9 Duncan 100% agreement.

And what the hell information can they not get by over-flying with a chopper and a video camera, it should be obvious where the problems are.
as for ignoring the petition, they do this at their peril.
General rule of thumb. If 1person complains , 10 others would have , given the chance. Do the maths, then think!!!

9

Ian Baxter,

Midlothian 18/02/2007 16:45:56

The big problem with solving congestion is everyone thinks people should stop driving their cars . . . so long as it ain't them!

I suspect all this anti-surveillance fuss has more to do with people not wanting to be charged more for their polluting habits (not mentioning holding my bus up in the morning!). My question to such people is always the same - given doing nothing is not an option, how would you solve the forthcoming problems of congestion?

10

Dod fae Orkney,

North Sea 18/02/2007 16:52:39

Is Tavish needing a drug test?

11

jumanji,

canada 18/02/2007 17:19:37

Let them go ahead with this system, this should cost billions.

Someone there will come up with a way to avoid the gps system picking you up.

special reflectors are available to mask the number plate etc...etc.

Concentrate on Hybrid vehicles, then offer no car tax, discount car insurance, incentives.

If the worst comes to the worst, just refuse to pay these tolls and clog up the judicial system.

12

JG,

Fife 18/02/2007 17:20:07

#10 Ian
Provide more buses at a rate so cheap it would be lunacy to take the car to work. Make the buses clean and safe (my pensioner dad had to buy a complete change of clothes once as someone had urinated on the seat and he sat down before he realised) and have them running frequently with relevant routing. Make the trains cheaper too, so that travelling on them doesn't require a small loan! Get the goods transported by train - effectively reducing the number of lorries on the road. If the public transport is cheap, clean and co-ordinated people will actually use it.

13

Barry.,

Edinburgh 18/02/2007 18:55:55

I bet anything they waste more money on a second lot of cameras when they bring in tolls

14

Enster Buddy,

Fife 18/02/2007 19:25:10

JG 13, good thinking man> However we first need HONEST, OPEN polititians who can do joined up thinking. The first two requirements are about as far away as the sun, the third, well I think we all know the answer without prompting!

15

plord,

edinburgh 18/02/2007 20:57:07

city of London bonuses this year = more than total uk transport budget.


 

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