Galileo GPS launch paves the way for road charges
Published December 31st, 2005
Motorists are already beginning to embrace the idea of satellite-navigation units in cars.
And in a few years, sat-nav will be doing far more than simply telling drivers how to get to their destination.
This week, the first test satellite in Europe’s 3.4bn-euro (£2.3bn; $4bn) Galileo satellite-navigation system blasted off on a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The final global network of 30 Galileo satellites is crucial to providing the high volumes of time- and location-based data needed for new services such as advanced sat-nav, mobile location data, natural disaster surveillance and air traffic control.
Powerful applications are expected on the roads; the Galileo network would allow a vehicle’s exact movements to be tracked, presenting new possibilities for road-user charging and tolling.
The precision and availability of the Galileo signal would facilitate the application of charges according to the distance travelled by a vehicle, along with other parameters.
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