I find it hard to see how
nationwide road charging could work.
One can make it work in a city: stick a load of number plate cameras around the perimeter. Simple and effective, except for a small % of fake number plates.
But nationally, independent verification of the vehicle identity (i.e. number plate reading roadside cameras) is not feasible due to the # of cameras required. It would have to rely totally on a GPS receiver logging the driving, and then somehow (probably over GPRS) transmitting the data to a billing centre.
Obvious countermeasures are disabling GPS reception or (if applicable) disabling the GPRS link.
The obvious countermeasure to the above would be to link the module to the speedo so it gets an independent measure of the distance travelled, to be verified at each MOT check. Then you need to install a special speedo which has an output signal. Then you don't need a GPS function at all
- just the GPRS link for billing purposes. The GPS would be needed only to implement different rates for different areas.
Many exemptions would be necessary e.g. for old and vintage cars which cannot be economically fitted with the speed sensor.
It would always be trivial to disable any speed sensor, but if done on the main speedo you would lose the tachometer mileage which could be a problem.
The simplest way of doing simple universal billing would be for the MOT station to report the annual mileage and you get a bill based on that
Launching GPS satellites which might eventually be used mainly for road pricing is nuts.
£1.50/mile is not necessarily outrageous - depending on how much present car/fuel taxation is shifted onto a mileage related rate.