Motorists are yet to be convinced of the case for roadpricing, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling conceded yesterday.
Mr Darling said road pricing had to be part of the solution to tackling congestion.
But he said it would only work if the public was on board. And the argument had not yet been won.
The Government wants to replace road tax and petrol duty with road charging. Mr Darling said the aim was to cut congestion by nearly half.
A pilot scheme covering a region could be in place within five years. And if all goes well it could be rolled out across the country within ten years.
But the RAC Foundation said it had no chance of success unless the Government started building support and understanding now.
In a speech to a London conference hosted by the Institute for Public Policy Research, Mr Darling accepted the argument.
"There are some who believe the case for road pricing is already accepted," he said.
"Not yet. Although many more people know about the concept than did a year ago, we cannot say that the case has been made and the argument has been won."Mr Darling said congestion was bad news for the economy and the environment. It also caused delays and frustration to motorists.
But he said if the Government did nothing the country would face "eternal gridlock" like many US cities.
He said road pricing had to be part of the solution. But he added: "The solutions we provide for road pricing will have a big effect on how people travel and indeed live their lives. So we need to have broad support."
The seven West Midlands local authorities have jointly applied for Transport Innovation Fund money from the Government to conduct a feasibility study. It is understood it is the preferred pilot area because of the conurbation's size and the cross-party consensus the political mix controlling the seven councils would create for the policy prior to a national roll-out.
