Government proposal to introduce road pricing

[reads90]

Well, as they say...............

"It doen't matter who wins the General Election, the Government always get in" !!

As it says in the Zodiac Mindwarp song

Goverment is not the solution to the problem, Goverment is the problem

[Jen]

I have to say I agree more with pugwash than the devils advocate arguement.

As a transport proffessional for the last 7 years working in both policy and traffic management I stand by my inital feeling this isn't going to work... well, actually - yes, it will work - for London, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds etc. where the public transport infastructure is already in place. Here only adjustments will need to be made to compensate for the increase in capacity (which in itself will be difficult). When I lived in Sheffield and Manchester I never really felt the need to use the car. But as usual, many central govt. policies fail to see beyond the cities, my 20 minute journey to work on public transport would involve 2 lots of 15/20 minute walk and 2 trains totaling approx 1hr 30min travel time

I know it's being trailed in the cities first, but I hope we all get a chance to comment before the cities experiences are forced apon the more rural counties.

[GBMUD]

You can't even take your bike on the train these days to make the journey at either end more acceptable. Busses are a joke for the most part. Sandbag has just accepted a new job in Salisbury, some 40-50 minutes drive or 40 minutes train ride away from home. She will be travelling by train and fortunatly working near Salisbury train station but I will still have to drive her to and from the train station at this end as going by bus is such a joke.

It is interesting to hear so many people here complaining about the government and how carp they are. Given that they scored more votes (on a per constituency basis) than any other party at the last THREE general elections I am surprised that NOBODY has spoken up in their defence. Perhaps no Landrover owners or no computer owners vote Labour? Unlikely. Perhaps more of us (the motorist I guess) should be a little less apathetic come voting time and go vote for someone else. Sadly, I suspect that it will be Hobson's choice from the motorists point of view and we will end up being dumped on one way or another.

Personally speaking, if road pricing went ahead and was set at a level where a driver doing the current avarage mileage at the current times of day (in other words mostly between 0730 to 0900 and 1700 to 1830 for example) paid the same anount as currently for road tax then I would be better off. I tend not to drive at peak times and less than avarage miles. Sadly I suspect that it will not be the case. I will also have to shell out for tracking devices for three vehicles. I wonder what such systems will make of driving off-road and on unpaved roads?

The government were saying last week that we should be prepared to pay the true cost of using/emmiting the carbon that we do. Fine I say... as long as the goverment will reflect the environmental benefits of bio-fuels by reducing taxation on them to zero. I would be delighted to run my cars on bio-fuels but because the taxation on them means that they are MORE expensive than mineral fuels (bio-diesel is anyway) they are not available in Wiltshire.

What would I really like? Why does the government not just come clean and be open about where taxes come from and where they go to? I would like them to admit that this is, in fact, just a revenue generating excercise. They should be made to admit that they have to generate a certain amount of cash and then raise visible taxes to cover that. Duty on biofuels should be cut and tax on mineral fuels raised so that users of more fuel pay more tax. The more I drive my thirsty, carbon emitting 4x4 the more I pay. If I drive it a little I pay less. If I use bio-fuel I pay less still to reflect the amout of carbon I am producing. This way, as well as the amount of "congestion" I am causing, I pay for my carbon emmissions. If I use a Smart car I get 50mpg (?) and use less fuel than a similar ourney in a Range Rover at 12mpg (?) That way my choices directly reflect my costs.

As someone said earlier, we do not pay the government to tell us what to do, it is US who should be telling THEM what to do.

Gits.

Chris

[GBMUD]

And another thing.

The trouble with road pricing is that if you happen to be better off, like a MP for example - even before and after their terms in office they ate typically "better off" than avarage I will wager - you will still be able to afford to drive under a road pricing scheme. If you are less well off, for example someone earning £10500/year who has to drive to work as there is no alternative you will be priced off the road. That way, the wealthy get uncongested roads which they can afford to drive on and the poorer get shafted.

Another way that the government could help reduce the number of car journeys (particularly at peak times) is to offer incentives to employers to allow their staff to work from home. These days so many people work at computer based jobs that they could work from home several days a week if not more. They can have video conferencing with the office and get on just as well as if they had a desk in an office - in many cases with less distractions. Sandbag is a good example of this but as a rule employers are reluctant to allow home working.

Chris

[GBMUD]

I am going to put my soap-box away now as my fingers are getting tired.

Chris

[reads90]

The problem with this

Is what if you job is driving. When i left the Uk i was a sales rep. That mean't i did 50,000 miles a year driving. I had a company car which i was taxed to the hilt for. But you have to have a company car as i was not going to take the hit for the cost of the car to do that amount of milage a year.Plus the major depresation of the car the amount of miles you put on a year.

But the company would have to then pick up the tab for the road toll system or what ever you want to call it. So where does that extra cost end up (same with trucks) Well it will end up on the price of the good you are selling which in turn means you lot will have to pay extra for all the bits you need. Which will then send up the intrest rates and then your morgage and the spiral continues. Look what happen to the economy when the price of fuel went up