Pay Per Mile You Drive / Pay As You Go (Merged)

[Mike_Wooshy]

anyone else heard about this ?
its so stupid, what about those who work in the public sector ?
or those who drive for a living ?
surely we can all see this is another stealth tax and vendetta against the motorist,
something we have come to expect from our labour goverment ???
(for those who dont know what im talking about look here :-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4610755.stm)

[JAG]

It COULD be a much better system than the current one. No fuel or road tax, and if you choose your route carefully it could be as little as 2p per mile.

I guess its those in London and the centre of major cities that will be hit hardest.

Then again they do benefit from better public transport.

[Logrence]

They have a similar system in Germany with lorries at the moment - lorries using the autobahn have to pay per mile. So what happens? Rural roads and villages are being flooded with HGVs.

New system may sound utopian but it will lead to disaster. Where is the sense in forcing people onto smaller, unsafer roads? Where is the sense in forcing people to drive at night because it's cheaper - when they're tired and it's dark? Do you realise that this computer/satellite system can't distuingish between public and private roads? The 2CV 24 hour race could get pricey...

[touringlegend]

If it's meant to be trying to ease the amount of traffic on the roads, I don't see how it will if Road Tax and Fuel Tax is abolished in favour of it.

Don't get me wrong, I would rather pay per mile than pay for all three.

Also, I would assume the £1.34 per mile is for the likes of the M25 at rush hour.

[JAG]

Hopefully it will force many HGV's to travel at night, and use the railway more.

As for the school run, don't get me started.

When the schools are on holiday the local roads are virtually empty.

[Mr V]

First off, they have to get everyone to have the black box fitted to their car, not an easy task.

[Craig]

Originally Posted by JAG

Hopefully it will force many HGV's to travel at night, and use the railway more.

Bit of a problem when those HGVs are queuing up on the outskirts of town at 4am waiting for people to arrive to unload them at their destinations I think everyone who can run at night already is.

The real culprit with traffic congestion is the ridiculous school run situation. Why can't people walk or cycle to school like they used to? It makes me want to scream when people answer that question with ridiculous statements such as "it's too dangerous for little Jonny to walk to school these days as there's so much traffic." HELLO???!

[Mike_Wooshy]

Originally Posted by Craig

The real culprit with traffic congestion is the ridiculous school run situation. Why can't people walk or cycle to school like they used to? It makes me want to scream when people answer that question with ridiculous statements such as "it's too dangerous for little Jonny to walk to school these days as there's so much traffic." HELLO???!

I agree and the goverment always asks why are kids getting fatter ?
cuz they aren't walking to school thats why !!!!

[Bluebottle]

This plan will solve nothing but will make the Govt look like the're doing something. Do you know anyone who's stoped smoking because fags are expensive?
Are the ferry ports are going to dish out boxes to drivers visiting from the continent? No? So there'll be plenty of people using our roads for nowt- at least at the moment they have to pay via fuel tax.
The 'School run' thing makes me really cross. There's a family near us who drive their kids to the school we walk to- and it';s not as if they're dropping them off on the way to work- they work at home!! It's a status thing, they believe that if they walk to school people will think they havn't got a car!
(Going off-topic for a moment, I go to work on the train, taking a folding bike with me (not a crowded train, plenty of room..) and one of my collegues asked me why I don't buy a car- he was a bit surprised when I said "Why? I've already got four." )

[Jaxs]

The problem is the quanity of traffic, the toal number of vehicles on the road not only around London and the M25 but across the country. The rail system has been neglected and is now addressed to the passenger services. So what do you do.

Tax the highways will only result in the additional costs of moving products across the country on to the consumer. When, what is left of the UK industry have to pay another premium to move it's products from factory to port, to distribution points.., food and other imports would immediatly cost more, and.. if the base price goes up then so does the tax, 17.5% VAT become greater. and you and I will be expected to pay. I can hear the screams the 17.5% remains the same but if the price goes up the 17.5 share becomes greater... stealth tax again..

Additional costs for the maintenance of village roads etc... self defeating save in one area and push up the costs in another.

Motorways will become deserted.... anyone use the congestion zone in London... the amount of traffic that by passes it is amazing.

Take it to it's logical conclusion, more people use public transport, congestion on buses and trains, people unable to move to liesure pursuits.... and so it goes on.

For all those people living in the country, to whom the car is essential......?

The fall in consumer spending continues, given the additional increases in transport.... can the last person switch off the lights.

[JAG]

[QUOTE=Craig]Bit of a problem when those HGVs are queuing up on the outskirts of town at 4am waiting for people to arrive to unload them at their destinations I think everyone who can run at night already is.

[QUOTE]

Nightshift?

I'm not saying pay as you go is the answer but some people need to plan their journeys a little more thoughtfully and get out of silly habits such as uneccessary school runs.

[Rich R]

i find it slightly insidious that the government wants to track the movements of every vehicle in the country, will they then be able to determine whether you were speeding at any point in your journey, or pick up on any other misdemeanours that you may have done.

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by JAG

It COULD be a much better system than the current one. No fuel or road tax, and if you choose your route carefully it could be as little as 2p per mile.

I guess its those in London and the centre of major cities that will be hit hardest.

Then again they do benefit from better public transport.

Don't kid yourself about the no tax on fuel or road tax, that will never happen.

Hopefully it will force many HGV's to travel at night, and use the railway more

In London and a lot of other places HGVs can't run at night, only 7am to midnight. Personally I don't want to work nights, 4am is early enough and what about the noise, I get enough complaints now. The railways can't cope and are too expensive.

[Craig]

Originally Posted by JAG

Nightshift?

Planning permission and other local restrictions would prevent most shops and other in-town businesses taking delivery out of usual working hours.

[Woolley]

When, and only when, someone gets public transport sorted out, people will use it. I've tried on several occasions, but it's unreliable, slow and hideously expensive. It's a shame that no-one out there realizes that I'd prefer to go to work on public transport but the timetable and speed mean it's not feasible.

Petrol tax already is a charge per mile, with the benefit of it charges most those who have inefficient cars. The suggestion with road charging is that the expense will depend on where you live and work, and that's patently unfair.

[JAG]

One things for sure, we can't go on like we are.

Radical changes need to happen in all aspects of transport, that includes making provision for more deliveries at night etc., and increased capacity for the raliways. As I understand it, the main problem with the railways for delivering goods is not the price, although it is pretty expensive, but reliability.

The government also realise they cannot screw the public on this as they would we voted out instantly.

[Mike_Wooshy]

If I had my way id get rid of trains and make them transport only roads
THUS freeing up motorways and letting truckers and the like get on with there life easy .....
also most railways are flat thus easier time for truckers and white van men.
But thats just me

[Woolley]

...or just stick the freight on the railway, which is a much more efficient way of pulling it in terms of weight moved for the energy expended, and the tracks already there,

[Mike_Wooshy]

the railways arent going to improve they have been deterarating since the 60's and I predect it will continue to do so, I feel, or see no point in wasting tax payers money several times.

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by JAG

One things for sure, we can't go on like we are.

Why? would you care to explain please

[josvandeperre]

Rich R made a very good point - if they can figure out how far you have travelled and on what road and when they will be able to send you speeding tickets with your road use bill - furthermore in the same way as the London Congestion Charge is about revenue so is this plan whether it be for the road charging or the speeding - one third of London fines are unpaid and rising - is it any wonder - what betting the id card has a location chip in it

[Richy_Rich]

Hm, insteresting point. If absolutely nobody paid their congestion charge, parking tickets or speeding fines what would they do?

[Tim Falce]

Employ a lot more bailiffs

[JAG]

Originally Posted by falcemob

Why? would you care to explain please

And explain the perfectly obvious?

[garcon]

I genuinely believe the predictions that if we carry on as we are then significant parts of the road network will become almost permanently gridlocked by 2020.

Trying to cast aside the sceptical feeling that we'll get fleeced, I'm all for new ideas such as this. The perennial problem however is the lack of will to spend the necessary capital on an efficient integrated transport system - there's no point in trying to price people away from the peak hotspots if there's still no viable alternative.