Road pricing
- Tuesday, 4 December 2007
- 3 Comments
YES
No one can deny Britain's roads are at breaking point; drivers face agonising and unpredictable journey times, those in rural areas are forced to subsidise the costs caused by city drivers and the government has outlined no real plans to build many more roads. Public transport is not up to scratch and rail fairs are set to rise by up to 14% next year despite overcrowding on popular commuter routes. Something has to be done, and people need to be prepared to pay for what they use.
Building more roads is an expensive and short -sighted 'solution'. With the population and economy expected to grow, the RAC Foundation is forecasting a 37% increase in demand for road space by 2041.
Until someone invents a hovercraft or we can all work from home, congestion on British roads is only going to get worse. Road pricing worked at cutting congestion in London so there is no reason to believe it couldn't work nationwide. Journey times in the capital have fallen a third and even air pollution is down by 12%.
Queuing may be the British way but it a ridiculous method for allocating capacity. As a frustrated weekday commuter, I'd rather pay than wait in line any longer. And as a weekend caravanner, I object to paying the same tax for meandering down a quiet country lane on a Sunday afternoon as my gridlocked journey to work during rush hour.
NO
Me, my motor caravan and the open road- nothing could stop us. We were free to roam any time, exploring Britain's beautiful landscape at our own pace, until now. Road pricing will limit our freedom of movement and is another way for people to be monitored and tagged. With a satellite system watching and recording our every journey, we're edging dangerously towards a total surveillance state.
Most Brits are financially overstretched and the average debt is over £20,000 per head but our government wants to introduce more charges for something we already use on top of all our other motor related taxes? It's highway robbery! This stealth tax will only push poor drivers onto inadequate public transport, leaving the roads free for people whose companies are rich enough to pay the charges for them.
Road Pricing could vary from 2p/mile to £1.34/mile at peak times in congested areas but where will this money actually go? In London the policy was outlined to offset costs of improvements to public transport. Nationwide, each area is different. Local councils should be consulted to consider the needs of each region targeting actual congestion problems.
Implementing road pricing on an individual basis for 32 million car users each month will be another expense motorists will have to pay for. Either £1 billion will need to be spent on cameras in areas without them to track drivers down or £5 billion on black boxes if we are expected to have one per vehicle.
One fixed road price for all is unfair, especially when most drivers have no viable alternative for getting around. Over 1.8 million people signed a petition to Downing Street back in February asking for road pricing plans to be scrapped so it's about time our government listened.
April 07 21:58
a boon
I dont think road pricing should be introduced as we pay enough at the moment.Road pricing would just make everything more expensive.If the government really want people to use public transport then it has to be cheap and run for the public.Why dont they just limit the number of people allowed to use the roads?eg anybody caught twice the legal drink drive limit loses their license for life,also put the age before you can hold a license up to twenty.Instead of just taxing everything ,look for alternatives as they are taking peoples freedom to travel away.