NoRoadPricing.co.uk

The petition closed in february with a total of over 1,800,000* signatures. The last day saw a flurry of activity, with over 150,000 signatures recorded, higher than any previous day.

I wish to thank all the people who saw fit to register their opposition to these proposals, although I believe the fight against road pricing has in fact only just begun.

30/10/2007

Apparently the powers that be are now considering tolling the (existing) motorways rather than a national scheme on every road. Expect to see every A-road clogged day and night if this happens.

18/10/2007

It seems that I was absolutely right. The past few months have seen the government put national proposals 'on the back burner' while fighting tooth and nail to force our major cities to introduce schemes of their own. So far Manchester is alone in pushing a scheme, however it seems that Birmingham may not be far behind, despite the city council giving a resounding 'NO!' many months ago.

Meanwhile, there are plans afoot to impose a blanket 20mph urban speed limit nationwide, enforced by swarms of ANPR average speed cameras. If this happens, not only will cars with foreign plates be unaffected, along with the scores of unregistered vehicles, unlicenced and banned drivers currently on the roads, but it will also spectacularly fail to improve road safety.
All the (legitimate) drivers in the UK driving along at 20mph, bored out of their skulls, only ever looking up from their speedometer to check for the next camera can only increase accidents.

So, what is 'road pricing'?
The government is considering introducing a system whereby drivers are charged for driving 'by the mile', as opposed to the current fuel duty system in place. The charges would be higher for using busy roads and/or driving in peak times (i.e. the 'rush hour'). Charges would be lower for using back roads, driving at night etc. All this is proposed as a solution to the current traffic congestion on our roads, by making more congested roads expensive to use, and therefore quieter.

Further information:
Google News: "road pricing"
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_pricing, also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAYD
BBC news- at a glance guide: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4610877.stm

My main problem with this:
Everyone agrees that excessive traffic congestion is a bad thing. Why? It stops people from being able to get where they are going. So the government plans to relieve this congestion (which is stopping us from getting to work) by:- stopping us from using the roads which congestion was stopping us from using! Does this make any sense?
They say that the roads are clogged with people who have no need to be there. So, what are all those people doing in the traffic jams on the M6 at 8AM then? Enjoying the scenery? If people are stuck in traffic, 95% of the time it is because they HAVE to be there. If you know another route, avoiding the traffic, you go that way, don't you? People already do almost everything in their power to avoid sitting in jams, and making it an expensive business on top will not have any real effect, except perhaps forcing people to give up their jobs because they can no longer afford the commute.
Oh yes, and the proposed charges (up to £1.34/mile) would be on top of fuel etc. Fuel duty would probably go down quite considerably, but do you seriously think that petrol would be absolutely free?
'Road pricing' can ONLY work by pricing people off the roads- either it doesn't work and you pay to sit in jams, or it does work and the clear roads are no use to you, because you're not driving on them.

My other main problem with this:
The current plans involve the fitting/purchase of a compulsory GPS (or Galileo) satellite tracking device to every vehicle in the UK. The charges would be calculated by the government tracking the whereabouts of your car (and you) at all times, logging the results into a central database, and then calculating the charges based upon what roads you have used and when. A bill would probably be sent in the post.
The government has absolutely no need for this scale of surveillance, if they simply wanted to toll the roads (which I also oppose) they could use other systems to collect or enforce the toll.
It is reported that the ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers) has already expressed an interest in the ability to remotely disable any vehicle. Of course this could be of use in recovering stolen cars etc, but this ability would prove incredibly dangerous if it were to fall into the wrong hands. NO computer system in existence is 100% secure. Any road pricing, vehicle tracking or disabling system WOULD be able to be hacked into by a suitably skilled individual or organisation, who would then know exactly where you are, and be able to stop you. This is of course not taking into account the possibility of a less scrupulous government than now coming into power and inheriting the system.

And of course, the system would have the innate ability to measure your speed at all times.

Even more problems:
It has been said that road pricing is needed, so that money can be raised by the treasury to re-invest in our transport infrastructure. The same people also say that road pricing would be 'revenue-neutral', whereby the total funds raised (taxes collected) would be equal in value to current road taxation. If this is so, why not just invest some of the revenue they get now? Fuel duty is now 48.35p/litre (remember VAT gets charged on top of this), and raises £23.5 Billion per year. Vehicle Excise Duty (commonly known as 'Road Tax') raises another £5 Billion per year. Total transport spending is £12.3 Billion per year (roads, railways, everything). Where does the rest go?

Rail fares are rising fast, bus fares too. Now the cost of motoring is set to rise even faster than before. How are we supposed to get to work? All this assumes that public transport even exists in your area, never mind functions properly or provides a practical means of travel.
For example, my commute (Tamworth to Birmingham city centre, in case you wondered..) takes 30mins by car, at a fuel cost of £4.80 return. Insurance costs another 80p, road tax 27p, depreciation and maintenance about another £2.80, so altogether £8.67 (parking is free).
A return rail ticket costs £7.40, plus about £2.50 return to get the bus to the station, or £1 to drive there and back, but another £4 to park. The train takes 25 mins, plus a 10 min walk from New Street Station to work. To drive to Tamworth station to catch the train, 10 mins. To get the bus, 35 mins plus a 10 min walk. Plus around 10 mins waiting for the train, plus another 10 mins waiting for the bus.
So;
Drive to work: 30 -35 mins, total cost £8.67 return.
Drive to station, get train: 55 mins, total cost £12.40 return
Bus then train: 1hr 40 mins, total cost £9.90 return.

By the way, to get to the station I would have to go away from work a few miles, the train is a diesel and the bus takes the most convoluted route imaginable. Net result- more polluting than just driving there.

"Get a house closer to work!" I hear you cry- have you seen the price of housing recently?
N.B in march I did exactly that- I moved to within walking distance of my job. My job, however, has elected to move away from here, so very soon I will be driving to work again. You just can't win, can you?

I have an idea.
Instead of relentlessly attempting to milk us all dry, why don't the government consider spending a bit more of that £28.5 Billion of car taxes on public transport people can or want to use? Building NEW public transport infrastructure, rather than carving up the already congested streets? Improving the roads, rather than narrowing them (and/or fitting 24hr traffic lights on roundabouts, speed bumps and cameras on safe roads, chicanes etc etc....)? Why can't we make public transport cheaper, rather than driving much more expensive? Why can't we make cars cleaner, rather than taxing them all off the road with a scheme that completely fails to take account of fuel efficiency or pollution?
Or is the truth that cars ARE getting cleaner, and electrics/hybrids/fuel cells are only a few short years away. Is it the truth that governments worldwide have become so accustomed to levying taxes on environmental grounds, and are now readying an excuse to tax clean cars at ever increasing rates?

Organisations opposed to road pricing:
The Association of British Drivers (according to The Times, all the hundreds of thousands of people who have signed the petition are hardcore ABD activists, apparently..)
SafeSpeed
The National Alliance Against Tolls

I'm sure that an intelligent web-user such as yourself can Google further information/news articles if you wish! :-)

This site was written by an independent individual, and is in no way associated with the ABD or any other organisation, although I do of course support any campaigns, by anyone, against road pricing.
If you have any comments or suggestions please e-mail campaign@noroadpricing.co.uk

Updated: 18/10/2007