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Scottish Transport Minister Tavish Scott has made a dramatic U-turn by scrapping plans to introduce road tolls for at least the next four years. Tony Blair has admitted it would be 'kamikaze politics' to introduce road charges without public support.

My husband is self-employed and uses his van everyday for work, he can sometimes be working in London or just local to where we live but to bring this tax in would be penalising him as he would be driving at peak time all the time and of course you would be paying more over a year than you would if you paid the fuel tax and car tax which is why the government are probably so keen on this idea. More money out of hard working people.
Trains always seem to be delayed and with little kids it is not ideal to use buses when you have buggy and when you have to do food shopping. Car is still the quickest option of getting around locally.

So far all I have read is what we do here in Britain. Perhaps we could have a breakdown graph as to what they do in the rest of Europe. I have just returned from France filling up with deisel to the tune of .69p a litre.
My need for a car is transporting large heavy items at times when the so called public transport is not operating.
I am 60+ and provide an educational public service practically free of charge, I object to the Road Fund Licence, many people flaunt it. What the Government loose for abandoning the Road Fund Licence should be placed as THE tax on fuel ensuring that all road users pay the same. The MOT should be part of the Insurance and an Insurance Disc be implemented.

If and only If duties such as road fund license (road tax) and petrol duty were to be removed and a levy placed on where and when you went in your car that would be slightly fairer.Public transport outside any major conurbation is an absolute joke the sooner everybody wakes up to that the better they smell they are unpleasant enviroments and thats after you have waited 30mins (at rush hours) or 90 mins out of rush hours .The british are the most unorganized non caring apathetic disfunctional country in Europe and I count myself in that ,but please dont let us be dragged quietly to the chamber of total control stand up and be counted object to this outrageous additional tax on not just motoring but LIFE itself .

I think the questions here should be the technology which will be introduced.

At the moment we have a similiar tracking system in place by Navman, the information which gets sent is a lot more than your position alone. I can comfortably say that the information the government will collect will be used for other projects, which lets face it they will never admit to.

But on the other hand, the system to tax per mile is a sensible one if they abolish fuel tax and vehicle Tax.

Daniel Christopher wrote:
>Your site is fanatastic, great for focal point for car users to air there
>thoughts.
>
>But it seems that government are listening and or pretending to listen and do
>nothing but follow through there own agendas....
>
>My question have?
>Have you put forward enough viable alternatives, for the government to resolve
>our increasing car volume problem. There is a distinct problem with the amount
>of cars on the roads and this is increasing..
>
>Is signing a petition the only thing we can do to air our disapproval of
>government plans, it would seem that the government only takes these things as
>a guideline of how far they can push there own agendas, it seems that we have
>no teeth and so no body takes any real notice..

I start work at 5am where are the buses for me? Most don't start till 6am not much good for me and my workmates

I am sick to death of paying over the top for everything in this country. We pay tax on petrol, VAT on petrol, tax on everything, VAT on everything. It wouldn't be allowed in other countries because the people unite and fight. Look what happened in France when the Hauliers blockaded the roads in their fight. My suggestion is all of us taxpayers emigrate to a warmer country. You won't pay high tax, get a better health system, pay less for food, petrol, no council tax and far lower fuel bills. Let all the spongers stay in this country and run it even more to the ground. I am sick of paying to keep everyone else and being hounded to pay more for everything when others sit back and let us do this. Most people I know feel like this. So if we all did it - how will the governmet get any income? Who will look after all the benefit babes etc. if there are no tax payers?

Road pricing is a joke. My job means that I am travelling up and down the country on a daily basis, for me to get on a train would cost me a fortune, for example, I decided to see how much it would cost me to take a train from manchester to london arriving in the morning and departing in the evening this came out to just over £200!! and thats booking in advance...and not including parking at the station or travel cards in london. Also living in Manchester means public transport is limited. The Council has even scrapped the idea of extending the tram service or imrpoving any other public transport.
And finally I was reading a local newspaper in London and it seems that the london underground is the most expensive way to travel per mile(this is even more than the Concorde!!) So while our public transport is a mess we shouldn't pay even more for the service.

I didn't sign the petition. I'm a driver but I don't view driving as a right. Additionally I think the petition was an overreaction. If pay as you go road charging comes in it will replace tax on fuel and not be charged in addition. Finally this is being talked about as if it is happening tomorrow, it isn't it is years away and there's little to no chance (IMHO) that this government will still be in any position to set policy in 6 years time.

I signed the petition as I am strongly against any satelite tracking system as I feel it will be invation of your privacy, as well as being charged per mile for the privalige. Imagine the cost of implementing the system and running it who ends up paying for it the tax payer.

A simple solution as I see it is scrap the road fund licence, add an agreeable amount to an already heavily taxed petrol, hence the bigger the car you have and more miles you drive the more tax you will pay, surely that is the fairest way

Some people suggest we get out of our cars and use public transport, good idea if it was'nt for the fact that a lot of public transport has already reached ( if we are to believe the press) saturation point, in fact they are trying to price people off from using them, so it is catch 22!

What's the answer?...........Would it be Stop building motor vehicles!!

Regards
Richard

This is not about congestion. The government are determined to control every single aspect of our lives and they cannot, at the present time, know where all the journeys go to and from. With tracking they will. The tax gained, will be no doubt, be got from the future manipulation of the routes we will be 'forced' into using by the various restrictions that can be used to slow down certain routes, eg speed cameras, road bumps, traffic lights, closing roads off, bus gates, speed limits (notice a lot of recent 60's changed to 50's and 40's) building pavements outwards to make main roads into one lane etc etc. They will then be able to maximise tax revenue and also be able to increase it as and when they desire, to screw more money from us. We soon will not have any money left for them to take off us.!!

If all the tax was used to purely research into an alternative fuel that may be acceptable.

People use their cars because they NEED to, not because they want to, eg due to travelling time, comfort, needing to carry equipment for the job, difficulty as no public transport near etc etc. Tax will not change that fact.

It is laughable to think that all increases in fuel costs can be passed onto the customer, as, in a small company, the customer will merely go to the next company who is offering the same service at a lower price. This other company is usually a larger company that can absorb price differences in other ways, possibly by charging their larger regular customers more. This then squeezes out the smaller company. Any increase in overheads in a small company is another reduction in the amount that can be paid to its staff. The total economy of the country is under threat.

Anyway, it will not reduce any congestion because the same people still have to used their cars, it will just cost more and I don't think they are bothered about the environment in any case. They are just after more money to support their various hairbrained policies and money wasting schemes. Or am I being too cynical?

If all road tax were on fuel then automatically those who drive the most, have the most inefficient engines, drive the fastest, sit in jams with an idling engine etc would pay the most, all in proportion to what they do - so if they want to minimise the impact it will be obvious for them what to do. With all tax on fuel, dodging a free licence would carry no financial benefit, even if matched with a false reg plate it meant you couldn't be clocked by a camera. Superproportional taxation is merely an attempt by one social/political group to score points off another for the purposes of voting strategy. And if 3rd party insurance was also automatically included in fuel the impact (sorry, unfortunate pun) of the uninsured would be much less on those of us who are.

If the roads were maintained and some much underused road blocking "bus only "lanes were removed congestion would be reduced for the majority.
The preponderance of "money box" speed cameras and the almost complete disapearance of police traffic officers does not in my view improve safety.
Improve the roads by maintenace and not by as happens in my area by cheap often bodged "make do" repairs
The roads surfaces are bad now! ( I also ride a motorcycle and you do notice this more )
I think a much better fairer and more acceptable solution might be to remove road fund license fee and add the amount to be necessary to the pump price of petrol.
This would then be fair as the more miles you do the more you pay!
cameras should be only retained in known proved black spots in towns .and 20 mile an hour speed limits only allowed if they do not add to traffic blockages unless there is a proven accident spot where they apply .
Bring back the police officer with his /her discretion would also make me feel much better canmeras are not saving lives they are raising money,
As a motorcycling/car driver the amount of ironwork along most roads now makes them much less safe ( try hitting one on a bike ! )

My wife and i are both disabled and rely heavily on our car, in fact we need two, due to having two children whose shools are 3 miles apart. Add this to the problem we both study at different places 25 miles apart. We only use the car when necessary as we get our children to pop to the shops. This country being almost the most expensive in the world seems to be getting worse, this goverment is getting worse with stealth taxes and now blatently crucifying legal drivers, when there are people on our roads who pay nothing and i.e. no insurance etc. To add more taxes and pay as you drive would in my opinion bring this country to an almost standstill, as the public transport system is the most expensive, corrupt, useless and unreliable in the world. If they need more money put cameras at traffic lights and catch all the people who go through red lights, driving dangerously, that should cover their pockets and take some idiots off the road.

I've no particular objection to paying to use roads, especially motorways like with the French autoroutes or the Birmingham by-pass link road. I find this idea more acceptable when there is a non-toll alternative.

However I have extremely striong objections to surveillance of the population by any means for any purpose; for this reason I am opposed to the way in which this road pricing is prpoposed to be implemented, and equally to the way the London congestion charge is enforced.

A tracking device in one's car that tells the government where you go is wide open to misuse whatever the government says. So is electronic number plate recognition.

If not the present government, a later government or a shadowy part of the security services could easily misuse this information, for example to target people with whose views they do not agree. Think of all those dictatorships that suppress opposition by monitoring the activities of known and suspected activists, as is done routinely in the UK (which elects a dictator for 5 years at a time). Think of south american death squads linked to parts of the police.

I've got to say that I'm surprised that some people are being so black and white about this. Surley everyone agrees that it is wise to cut out unneccessary car travel and look for greener alternatives. People who have no choice through mobility, or needing the car to work from (call outs, trades etc) need to use their cars. But if public transport will get you where you need to go but you choose to use your car then that's the sort of travel that needs looking at, and I don't think it's wrong to be charged. The environmental issues are huge and yes, technology must play its part too. Public transport is very hit and miss depending on the area you live in. Perhaps the charges should take account of this? What mustn't happen is that people try to avoid the high tax roads by diverting through small villages, which will start a whole new set of problems. It is a very tricky problem to sort out but we have no choice on this because if we choose to carry on adding more and more cars to the road nobody wins and our childrens generation will most definately have to deal with the consequences.

All the rubbish about large cars. Sorry but for some of us a large car is a necessity. I am 6 ft 4 inches and have major problem fiiting in and safely driving any of the car the Government and the we hate the large car brigade would have us all driving.

I have been involved in 2 serious accidents and on both occasions I was hit in the rear at 60mph I doubt if I would be here had I been driving some of the plastic rubbish these idiots want us to all drive. When I see cars like the Smart Car on the motorway I really do wonder just how safe these type of cars are in the event of a serious accident.

If the Goverment is so keen to reduce the number of miles driven how about they fit all there vehicles with them now and we can see just how many miles they are wasting.

As far as I'm concerned the only way they are going to avoid congestion on our roads is by improving the train and bus services and bringing the prices down. This country never thinks out things properly. If you have ever been to Perth in Western OZ you will have seen how when they built the motorway north out the city they also built a railtrack right down the middle with Bridges over the top at each station. They could have done that around the M25.

Another stealth tax. If the treasury had spent a quarter of the revenue that the government had bled from the motorists over the last decade or so in petrol and road tax ( now theres a laugh ) on road and town improvements we wouldn't be in the state we are in now. It's as usual last minute rush and blunder politics.

Lets get real. The Brits will never allow any big brother to spy on us individually, nor will we allow anyone to take away our vehicles, this is our freedom and life is to hectic to consider other options unless they were very cheap and very accessible. I would prefer the tax on fuel to the vehicle tax and fuel tax that we have at the moment, but what the Government propose will not only blight middle and low income people but cost business a fortune and so increase inflation.
More funds should be set to get new fuels to stop the global problem all countries should fund this together. Regarding our road problem, as far as I am concerned it is caused by the same problem as the NHS and the HOusing problem this country is groaning under the weight of people, we are only an Island for goodness sake we can only hold so many people can't the politicians see it?

Matthew No 32
Where have you been for the last 9 years. Ever since Bliar became Prime Minister he has taken to the extreme what was in place and reasonable. He has resorted to standard Labour Policy, tax every one to the hilt and rely of the principle 'do as I say not as I do'.

This blog is about the subject of Road Pricing, having to pay yet again in another form of taxation something that all drivers already pay for in more ways than is reasonable, fuel duty, road tax, purchase tax, insurance tax, VAT to mention just a few. Road pricing is just another way for Bliar to line the pockets of his cronies.

If the government take all taxes off the motorist....
Tax On Fuel - about 70%
Road Tax - £135 ETC
........and charge me for each Mile i drive, Then i guess its a good idea!
I Dont think thats likely though.

I was at the FTA Summit on 1st March at which Stephen Ladyman - the Transport Minister - gave his assurances that a road pricing system was not going to be big brother and that it would not be an extra tax (being a replacement for Fuel Duty or Vehicle Excise duty).
He also said that it would not be railroaded through against Public Opinion.
There are a few points that I am concerned about
1. I don't believe him when he says it won't be an extra tax. Whatever happens I am certain that the motorist will pay more tax
2. If road pricing is focussed on congested roads or during peak periods of congestion it may discourage people from making unnecessary journeys but those of us who cannot work flexitime or use alternative routes are the ones who will end up paying the tax. In other words those who have no choice will pay.
3. He may be assuring us that road pricing will not be railroaded through but he also made it clear that he saw no viable alternative. The government is pushing ahead with the idea and looking for places to set up Pilot schemes.
It is my view that one way another, whether we like it or not, they will bring in road pricing. It will probably be by creeping death in order to avoid widespread reaction to a single national kick off date.
Successful opposition will be extremely difficult.

If we raise tax on personal transport it will again affect those of us who less well off in a disproportional manner. Why can't the government actually invest, promote & encourage people instead of passing blame, impinging freedom, and raising tax. Yes we have to tackle congestion, but how many of us actually drive at rush hour for fun? Surley we need to get freight off the road & improve local transport infrastructures before we look at anything else.

I drive a company car and abhore the fact that my company will receive a statement telling them exactly where I have been and at what time over the weekend. This is absolutely appalling. Why should my finance department know that me and my family were in the Lakes last weekend. Or, god forbid, I should go for a job interview somewhere else, they will know about it! This is a total infringement of my rights. I pay tax to have the benefit of this car already, over £2000 per year, something which I have absolutely no choice over past getting another job.

Secondly, does tax on fuel not already mean that those who drive more, therefore further are taxed more. They use more fuel, they get taxed more. They use a more fuel efficient car (better for the environment) they pay less tax.

Finally, this debate is ridiculous, this government will not do anything that does not INCREASE REVENUE, anyone who thinks otherwise is stupid and incredibly naive. This revenue will not help the environment, just the treasury. To help the environment why don't the government make it a must for new home builders (or office/factory for that matter) to add a sustainable energy supply to the building such as a solar panel. This would make a huge amount of difference if they carry on with their promise to build so many thousands of new homes. The reason they do this is because they do NOT GET REVENUE FROM HELPING THE ENVIRONMENT, the amount a builder would pay in tax would fall if his expenditure went up.

Plain and simple. This tax is a con that will infringe on my rights as a tax payer and motorist.

PS Has anyone seen the state of public transport outside of London. Or a train through Cumbria anyone? I think not

I grew up without a car so my family walked everywhere, even to the city boundary. That's where the buses and trams started from in those days.I walk today and it keeps me fit.

However, I have been a motorist for 41 years and agree with all the comments about getting to work. No public transport can get every person to their place of work. The car is the only means of doing that.

It's all well and good saying let everyone work from home - what about teachers, nurses, engineers, fitters, those in manufacturing. Yes, some people do still work in manufacturing - in spite of the selling off of our industries. Both Blair and Mrs T have been responsible for that.
I think the system of payment by fuel duty works - those who drive the most pay the most.

I also agree that road transport, not motorists, take a huge slice of the roads. Putting goods back on trains and waterways could reduce that.

Taxes on roads, when successive governments have already taxed the motorist well above the amount required for road maintenance and building, are simply taxes on the motorist. Don't fall for them being green taxes.

Just one word about public transport - how is it public if most of it is privatised? Buses were deregulated and yet my LA suggest we pay subsidies to the transport companies.

As for a satellite tracking system in my car, no way. This is just one way of charging, spying and enforcing speeding and telephone fines. Not in my car.
Brenda Longworth

I have read quite a number of comments and would like to make a few points which, in my opinion, are pertinent in summing up what is a very immotive subject. Let me first say that I travel a 72 mile round trip to get to work every day and I need a car as the public transport system would take me ages as I would require at least 3 transfers each way. not an option.
Have a good look at the amount of trucks/lorries that are travelling the roads nowadays. They should be only be allowed on the roads at specific times - say at night - but definitely not during rush hours or peak commuting times. I'm talking of the very large trucks, not delivery vans or such.
If the debate is so important because of polluting the atmosphere or minimising traffic on the road, then the reasons people require a car in the first place should be taken into consideration.
Traffic congestion (and pollution) is also exacerbated by speed humps in ridiculous locations; traffic lights which are not programmed to ease flow; roads leading into towns which could be converted by the road markings to help traffic into town in the mornings and vice-versa at evening rush-hour - there are loads of ways of easing traffic congestion.
The whole issue has come about by successive governments not putting enough resources into public transport, roads and rail systems. You only need to look across the water to the train system in Holland and see how things ought to be - a pleasure to travel by rail there. The present Government would rather spend £20M on a farce court case to try and charge our brave troops of war crimes than spend money where it is needed most - perhaps not on public transport either.
Look further afield - China's roads are now becoming more congested due to the upturn in recent years of their ecomomy and people affording cars - do we want to go backwards and take the pleasure of driving in Britain away from people? I would say no - we need to regulate the traffic better - not charge people the earth to take away their independence.
Some of the comments from people on this subject are just too ridiculous to take seriously - get in the real world - public transport is NOT the sole answer to the issue - nor is taxing the car owner to death.....

I think it is rushed solution to a problem and connot work. For me to get to work by public transport, I would first have to take 2 buses and 2 trains and walk a mile to drop my son at Grandma's house and then take another train and another bus to work. The whole trip would take 3 hours but by car it takes 40 minutes.
People who have to pay child care and then pay to get to work would have to consider if it was financially worth it. It may be better to stay at home and be a full time mum and claim benefits.
Finally, how about dealling with the real problem, bad road use (blocking box junctions etc) would mean the traffic would flow and remove cars illegally on the road so reducing the actual number on the road.
This road pricing system will lead to spiralling inflation, but at the end of the day Mr Blair will do what he likes despite what the democracy wants.

I have been out of the country, in Afghanistan, but have followed the general pattern of the petition against taxing individual travel by road. Only death and taxes are guaranteed, but as a rural dweller, i believe that I and many of contemporaries would be unfairly penalised!

I fought for many years against terror and persecution of minorities in such places as The Falkland Islands; Northern Ireland; Yugoslavia; Iraq and a few others. A road pricing policy would be terror against law abiding subjects of Her Majesty Queen Elzabeth II and would get NO support whatsoever from me!

What planet is David on?
Ideal world we all should use Public Transport,real world its unreliable,overpriced & in the country where I live almost not existant,why dont we then get all school kids on to public Transport & reduce the accident rate on the school run & also ease the traffic situation,
If the new toll tax would really ease the situation & the public transport was a real alternative,then go for it,but as we all know its just annother gorden & tony tax,
This goverment (or any other)dont want people to stop using cars,or stop smoking & drinking,where the hell are they gonna get any revenue from?

Some of us live in rural locations where public transport is limited and therefore the car is essential. Car sharing is not a viable option when everyone works flexi hours so until public transport is improved, or even available, individual car usage is the only option to get to work.

The question is "do you support the concept of paying tax according to when and where you drive"
Most peoples answer to this will depend on where they live, up here in sunny North Wales it is of no real concern, but in the major cities I am sure it is. When we drive is without doubt controlled by working hours, school hours etc. Where we drive is again controlled by where we work and so forth. If we take work as a prime example, the answer could be for more flexible working times and moving work locations away from city centres or the heavily congested area's. But it should not be forgotten that we all pay a substantial amount of tax in the fuel, road tax, car insurance, etc. that we purchase to enable us to drive our cars, those doing a greater mileage, are therefore already paying more tax in the fuel.
Perhaps had our past and present governments been spending theses vast amounts of tax's that they raise from motorists, on the road structure and public transport, we would not be in the mess that we are now in.

If this was a replacement tax - replacing VED and fuel duty - then perhaps it would be more acceptable, but it's not - it's an additional tax on a country already top heavy with taxation. Highly unfair and the government has to listen or lose at the next election.

I have driven almost on a daily basis for 30+ years to earn a living. During this time Supermarkets and retail parks have emerged in vast numbers requiring hundreds of deliveries in huge vehicles. These are seen daily in once quiet streets, and not just on the motorways. The number of Company vehicles in use has increased. The population has increased especially since our marriage with the EU, proven by the number of additional houses built in recent years. Schools no longer automatically take in children from the local catchment area either through lack of spaces or freedom of choice by parents, more traffic! Local authorites no longer subsidise parents with public transport to and from school. We can no longer rely on local work to sustain a living, as in my parents day. Generally we are more affluent now, most homes now have more than one car. Much of the council housing stock has been sold off quite cheaply, giving many a much deserved boost in assets, and with our love of cars that's what we buy. They are pushed in our face every day on the television and in the papers.
We also import far too many goods, which land at the airports and are transported by road all over the UK! Who was responsible for the demise of British Manufacturing and production?
The Government now wish to tax travelling by the mile, however they encourage business, growth, allow dozens of planning permissions for developments every week, offer freedom of choice to parents, and so on. Are we now to be punished yet again in increased taxes for congestion that surely the Management of this country should have seen coming. Yes we can all be a little lazy sometimes, popping to the shop in the car, but in my younger days there were lots of corner shops, and I did not need a car for shopping! We have all been given this convenience of the much loved Supermarket and retail park, forcing the local shops into closing, surely we cannot sit and blame each other for the congestion, we have all in fact just been drawn into the changing face of the UK!
There is no way that we can be financilly better off with this proposed charging per mile, it is not in the country's interest to lower taxes, and like the POLE TAX it could be too confusing for some of our residents. We need to look at public transport, make this efficient and affordable, increase park and ride into city centres, and get more commodities transported by train! I agree with other comments, that we are not just going to pay more for travel, we are going to pay more for goods also. Companies will not absorb the increased costs.
We are unlikely to see more roads, as suggested by some, the charge going to pay for this. The cost of managing this system will be huge, and I cannot see how we will benefit. Where would we put these extra roads anyway? Perhaps they could use farm land, and then we could import even more goods to transport by road!!!!!!

david & una irritate me intensely. Their views and arguments are as blind as the governments. Firstly there is no viable public transport system for the majority of the country - this was scrapped by Lord Beaching in the 1960's. Furthermore to say that the poor should not waste their money on cars is a snobbish attitude - often it is these poor people who are doing all the work that keeps the wealthy in their Bentleys etc. I believe that this and previous governments have poured taxation onto its citizens to the point where the working public struggle to survive. We all know that there is no way that the government will scrap the tax disk and fuel duty in favour of pay by GPS as they are proven liars who are only out to line their own pockets. At least with fuel duty (little of which goes back to the roads) you pay by consumption & distance. Further more why are they even concerned about congestion & CO2 apart from using it as a convienient excuse to load more taxation on the public and allow the rich free passage and governmental excesses to run wild. We should move to a situation of low personal taxation, where it is cheaper to repair and maintain than it is to throw away and buy new.

This is obviously an emotive issue that in one way or another will affect the whole population in the UK. It would seem that there is a real need to reduce carbon emissions and to this end investment in alternative fuels would seem to be the most sensible course. Reducing the number of cars on the roads would seem to be an obvious short term help in achieving this aim, but I cannot see how "taxing" motorists under the guise of reducing carbon emissions can result in the desired result. If the government were serious about getting people out of their cars, then it would seem to me that investment in public transport is the way forward. Make public transport convenient, reliable, safe, cheap and more attractive than the car, then all who need to travel have a viable alternative to the car. The surprise might be that large numbers of people who use their cars for short journeys or to commute, will actually choose to use the public transport system.

Perhaps if the "well paid" jobs were re-distributed across the whole of the UK then the bottleneck towns and cities would see a massive reduction in traffic/commuters, this would make life easier for public transport and allow for financial growth to be seen in areas previous deprived.

I am in a rural area in Scotland, however there are plenty of empty premises just waiting for investment.