Pay-per-mile road tax plan wins £250,000 Wolfson economics prize

Prizewinner Gergely Raccuja, 27, aims to scrap vehicle tax and fuel duty to help fund all road repairs with more eco-friendly scheme collected by insurers

A graduate transport planner has won a 250,000 prize for a plan to improve Britain's ailing roads with a proposal to scrap fuel and vehicle taxes and replace them with a pay-per-mile charging scheme.

The scheme would reward users of lighter, cleaner vehicles and ensure a steady stream of revenue to the exchequer (pdf), with the 27bn received annually from fuel duty now jeopardised by electric vehicles.