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Satellite-Assisted European Road Tolls Next?

Posted by simoniker on from the eye-in-the-sky dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "In 'Pay-as-you-go motoring just around the corner,' the European Space Agency (ESA) says that "road tolls could be made fairer if satellite-assisted distance pricing is implemented." Experiments are currently underway in Ireland, Portugal and Germany, before a possible extension to other countries. Potential benefits of such a road tolling system would be fairer implementation of charging on a 'pay for use' basis. All these experiments are using the US-operated Global Positioning System (GPS). But in 2010, when the system is fully implemented, it will use the Galileo satellite system."

2 of 288 comments (clear)

  1. hmmm by epiphani · · Score: 0, Troll

    Fark to Slashdot osmosis time: 12 hours, 13 minutes

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  2. So what is the US getting out of this? by sllim · · Score: 0, Troll

    I for one despise the general idea of 'pay as you go driving'. I am sure that the same kooks that think it is only fair the US pay $5/gallon for gas because Europe does will also think we should pick this up.

    Will you nincompoops Please just follow Johnny Depp to France? I hear the place is really wonderful.
    Really.

    Got that off my chest.

    Now my real question.

    These roads will be using the GPS put in place by the taxpayers of the US.

    I know I am coming off like a knowitall, but I swear to you I am not. I don't have an inkling of an idea of who pays for GPS.

    So I ask, is the US going to get anything from this?
    When someone buys a GPS transponder is there some sort of royalty in the price or a licensing fee that gets kicked back to the US government?

    I don't think that US citizens should have to pay such a fee, after all our tax dollars bought the damn things.
    I don't think I have any qualm with the US looking the other way when friendly nations military (say Britian) uses GPS. I got no gripes with that.

    But private industry run by foriegners, some people here forget but we are a capitalist nation, why shouldn't those foriegners be paying for the use of those satelites?

    And this goes doubly, triply hell dozenly so for governments trying to collect taxes for road use.