Road pricing by the mile – yes or no! - Page 2

entwisi · 12-02-2007, 20:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mancie

I don't see why charging by the mile would lower congestion..even if drivers were charged a higher rate per mile at peak times ( e.g £1 per mile) if they only drive 4 miles a day to and from work then its still cheaper than public transport.

4 miles, I sodding wish!!!!

add a 5 infront of it and your thereabouts. and thats each way matey!

grego · 12-02-2007, 20:45

I too think we pay enough tax already.

Mancie · 12-02-2007, 20:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by entwisi

4 miles, I sodding wish!!!!

add a 5 infront of it and your thereabouts. and thats each way matey!

Ok entwisi mate calm down

.... I was thinking more about road entrance to inner cities and town centres were congestion is at its worst at peak times, that is what I thought the per mile policy was supposed to do.. lessen congestion.
If the policy is just something to deter drivers from using thier vehicles then its even more of a no no.

entwisi · 12-02-2007, 20:59

iirc the quote was"we need to price people out of driving"

shakermaker · 12-02-2007, 21:30

If the British public transport wasn't on it's arse 24/7 I'd be all for pricing people out of driving, but it's just not practical or economical.

cashman · 12-02-2007, 22:59

Another nail in the Working Class Coffin, if this happens. NO.

Bazf · 12-02-2007, 23:37

You got to love it, 16 page motoring supplement inside.

Acrylic-bob · 13-02-2007, 09:01

Interestingly, I have not heard any mention during this debate of whether the Road Fund License will be abolished as a result of the introduction of this wizzard new squeeze-the-tax-payer wheeze. One wonders just what plans the treasury have for the countless billions raised from this new scheme of taxation. Cynic that I am, I would wager that a lamentably small amount of it would find its way into road improvement schemes.

It has always struck me that if any government is desirous of persuading the public to abandon private transport (cars and the like) then it would make reasonably good sense to make the alternative, public transport, more affordable, attractive and responsive to the needs of the travelling public. Sadly however, as is usually the case with government, reason and good sense play second fiddle to the rapacity of the treasury and the generally profligate spending decisions of all levels of government. So we have the situation where private transport is seen as the only viable alternative to a system of public transport that was designed for the needs of the early 20th century; a system that is inefficient, uncomfortable, unresponsive and too bloody expensive.

I recall that some time ago London's buses proudly bore the legend that they were the "life blood of the city" A look along any of the main thoroughfares was enough to convince anyone that the city's arteries (to persue the analogy) were hardened and that London's buses were at the root cause of much of the congestion. How many times have you been stuck behind a bus which stops in the middle of the road to allow passengers to board and alight?

How many times have you been stuck in the rain and the cold waiting for a once an hour connection or train services that have been cancelled without warning? How many times have you been forced to endure the crass bad manners of fellow travellers on public transport? How many times have you been forced to endure the hell of travelling on a bus or train full of screaching school children or that other modern torture, the plonker who has to relate in minute and knicker-wettingly boring detail every aspect of their tedious day at full volume into a mobile phone? And how many times have you bridled at the amount of money you are expected to hand over for the dubious privelege of travelling in such conditions? Is it any wonder that people, generally vote with their feet and opt for the privacy, comfort and relative convenience of their own tranport.

The solution to the traffic problem is not more taxation, because faced with the current alternative most people would prefer to pay the tax rather than endure the alternative. The solution is to redesign the whole transport system, root and branch, to utilise to the maximum the differing characteristics of each mode of transport; road, rail, air and waterway and to invest in reasearch and development to improve all of it. Is there a political party prepared to espouse such a radical and all encompasing aproach to solving the problem? If there is, I have yet to come across one, but be assured that should I do so, they would have my immediate and unqualified support.

jambutty · 13-02-2007, 12:02

The question of Road Tax seems to have been carefully avoided by the politicians. That means to me that only a portion of the Road Tax will be abolished and we will be taxed for having the nerve to actually own a car and then more tax to actually use it on the public highway.

Why don’t the government just admit that we peasants have got above our station in daring to own a car and they want to screw us back down again?

shillelagh · 13-02-2007, 17:26

I already pay by mileage - when i catch the bus!