Charging for roads by mileage

[Dom Tuk]

Maybe a good idea but how will people afford to pay �1.00 per mile every day. Will the charging coincide with reduction in fuel duty and abolishing the road tax. Or will mileage payment start and the others withdrawn in the next financial year (a la Gordon Browns Married Couples Allowance scam) so that you are effectively paying twice for a short time.

[silly moo]

I certainly couldn't afford it. I live in a rural village with a limited bus service (although good for a rural area).
I travel approx 11 miles to work - round trip 22 miles, and to use public transport i would have a journey time of approx 3 hours - 3 buses whose times do not coincide.

Can't help but feel that it is more of a money making scam than a serious attempt to reduce pollution etc.

[shaneystar]

We live in a rural area and my son drives 60 miles a day to and from work.It would cost him a fortune and public transport is abysmal here.This govenment amuse me.They want to build more runways at Heathrow and Stansted causing even more pollution and concrete over half the country causing even more.They always hit on the motorist.As for this satellite tracking it's just another way of implementing their big brother is watching you policy.Mind you I expect Two Jags will be able to afford it!

[mystress]

I agree completely with the two above comments.

I too live in a small village,our nearest supermarket/shopping area is 12 miles.The bus service is non existant,only four buses a day,and (as above) they do not go to the town,only with two changes;and no buses AT ALL on a Sunday!

My neighbour works shifts(in the town),earliest start 7am,latest finish 9pm;just how is he supposed to get to and from work(if he doesn't/can't pay the mileage charge)? A Taxi home would cost �24.00!

These politicians live in big cities,with public transport AND chauffeur driven cars.They should come into the REAL World for a change!

It's another stealth tax!

[robbieh]

How can it be a "stealth tax" if you've been told about years before its introduction???? Not very stealth to me.

Also if you live in the countryside - won't you benefit from having the lowest charge per mile? Could be a few pennies per mile for all we know at this stage!!! Its the people in the towns and cities who all leave work in the rush hours and whos entire journey is on major congested roads who will be hardest hit in terms of cost per mile

[shaneystar]

Well it is a stealth tax in a way.None of this was mentioned in the Labour party manifesto in the run up to the election.Alistair Darling couldn't run a **** up in a brewery.He's had more government offices than I have had hot dinners.Everyone will be hit in the pocket wherever they live.High earners in the city and lower paid people out in the sticks.I have worked it out and even at a few pence a mile it will still cost my son much more than he now pays in road tax to just go to work.It will cost mega money to implement which could be better spent on improving public transport and then people may feel more incined to use it.

[spudqueen]

I think that if we had an efficient, cheap public transport system then more people would travel by public transport. I too live in a village and to get to the nearest town by bus is as dear as driving in and parking, also the busses are not frequent or reliable. If I could rely on the bus, and it was cheaper then I would definately travel that way.

[robbieh]

I thought it actually was in the manifesto? just wasn't mentioned publicly? Still doesn't make it stealth tax though

[jno]

it's mentioned - briefly - in the manifesto as something they want to move towards, so that's fair enough.

[robbieh]

Oh and whilst i agree with you on alistair darling, the money wouldn't be spent on public transport. It would instead by spent on widening motorways, building by-passes and creating ridiculous traffic calming schemes like in the heavily congested town where i live.

No matter how good the public transport is, a lot of people simply won't use it. Any move to better public transport would first mean introducing more roads in order to divert the traffic and allow public transport to work better. Its the congestion caused by cars, lorries etc which delays buses in the first place. So you'd have to spend a fortune first to divert traffic from towns via buses, then introduce buslanes, then watch as people still don't use public transport as they have their new bypasses to drive on until they get busy 10 years later.

People are literally going to have to be forced to use public transport. Not because the buses are dirty, late, just because they have freedom to drive and driving gets them there quicker. The benefits of driving are obvious and clear. But maybe the freedom needs to be controlled

[palfreyman18]

I think it's a good idea- it will somewhat stop the congestion and persistently heavy traffic on the roads of this overpopulated country!

[shaneystar]

I am all for a cleaner environment but still don't think this a good idea.I used to live in south London,road hump heaven and I think traffic should be allowed to move more freely.Where some of my family live in Germany they are inundated day after day with lorries and cars thundering through their small town because people won't pay the toll charges on the autobahn.This is what will happen here People will just choose the quickest most economical way of getting from A to B causing even more congestion and confusion.
If I wanted to go to Cornwall ,say, from London on holiday it would cost a small fortune and I would think twice about it therefore depriving the people who live there from making a living from tourism.Most of the things we need for day to day living are carted around the country in lorries.The hauliers and big companies would want to recover their costs so we would see the price of food go up.
What about people on a low fixed income whose car is often their only lifeline.How will they afford these charges.
If they had beat the drum about this at the run up to the election I don't think Mr.B and co would be in No 10 right now.I think it is another hare brained scheme dreamt up by bureacrats in Westminster and Brussels to get even more money out of the taxpayer and to watch what everyone is up to at any given time.There must be someone in government who can come up with a better solution than this.
Rant over!!!

[undercovers]

A pay as you go system of driving? I was under the impression we already had this and called it fuel, the more you drive the more you use i.e. the more you pay! It�s a very easy system to administer and control, and very hard to get round paying... but instead we are meant to believe that launching satellites to monitor every car on the roads and then sending all the drivers a bill at the end of the month is the way forward. Have we all finally gone mad?
The system is unworkable for some very obvious reasons.
The cost of administration alone will be enormous,
Criminals will come up with a way of getting round the tax by removing or altering the tracking devise in the car, so it is only the law abiding that will be punished yet again.
It will remove the incentive to have small cost / fuel efficient cars as you will have to pay the same whatever you drive (increase pollution?)

I think that this is simply another thinly veiled attempted to monitor and control us once again, link compulsory ID cards with monitoring by satellite of everyone�s movements and I think you have to agree that our traditional civil freedoms are being eroded at an alarming rate. In fact this obviously goes hand in hand with the ID card, it is a great way to make sure the majority of the population do not move house or leave an area without informing the government e.g. they can�t lose anyone who owns a car. Obviously they will monitor the movements of individuals, issue speeding fines automatically etc.

I�m going to have to stop, the more I write the more annoyed I get. I just despair the present political system � I think I might have to get involved in it just to try and stop them / slow them down

[londondave]

if this happens i will get my leg amputated, claim a disability exemption

[robbieh]

re: the comment we already have a system which is the tax on fuel. Judging by the amount of congestion currently, it obviously doesn't work. Putting it up to a level that does just means people go out and having protests like in 2000. And i'm sure driving once a year to cornwall isn't going to break the bank. If you were regularly driving, every day for example, then its going to hurt. But a couple of times a year isn't.

If this idea was bought in and everyone could still afford to do everything they can now, and did do everything and more that they can now without second thought, it obviously wouldn't be working!

[robbieh]

And why would you be worried about getting fines for speeding (which is issued as a result of someone breaking the law) or people knowing you and your car had changed adress?

I don't think the government would actually want to monitor everyones every movement! Why would they unless you were a suspected or actual criminal?

[mongos bird]

Sadly I think this change in the taxation system was inevitable.  Sooner or later the Earth's oil reserves will be depleted which will result in a huge loss of income for the government.  Ooohh no, can't have that! The vehicles of the future will probably run on electricity or water but can you imagine the outcry if we were taxed on these commodities?!?  They've changed the rules in anticipation of the oil fields drying up.  So it has no bearing what fuel our vehicles of the future will use, they've got us by the short and curlies.

[milly143]

i would be bankrupted in about a week if they introduce that. I think the idea is good, but in reality it just isnt feasble for most road users/

[shaneystar]

It's not a question of breaking the law,it's about liberty as a private citizen .They know too much about us.Good article about this in todays Daily Telegraph.
We'll all become a nation of stay at homes because we won't be able to afford to go anywhere.Maybe just to work so we keep the coffers filled for the taxman.

[Octavius]

My maffs tell me that:

Avg mileage per year ...say 10,000

Avg cost per mile for London area say 60pence thats �6,000

Avg mpg say 50, thats 200gallons at say �4/gallon thats �800

So to do my average mileage its going to cost me the best part of �7,000 per year??????  I already spend �2,000 on public transport per year, flip me, I'm skint just thinking about it!!  Someone tell me my maffs is wrong...

[robbieh]

They know too much about us already? Well to be honest, why would the government be that bothered that they would want to know everything about ME!?! I don't flatter myself in thinking think they'd be tracking my every move etc. I'm not that special. Liberty shmiberty. As for a nation of stay ins - perhaps the nation should get out and walk a bit more often and loose some weight. I see that apparently 75% of males and 66% of women will be overweight within 5 years in thise country if trends continue. Maybe we can reduce peoples dependancy on NHS resources if people get out more. But of course its part of our rights in having liberty to be overweight, then be a burden on the NHS and then complain that the NHS is rubbish and the waiting lists are too long.

Away from that tangent, I see people mentioning high petrol costs, has it not been mooted that fuel tax will be abolished or at least heavily reduced? Surely there would rightly be uproar if both were to happen?