Pay as you go for Roads

[Horridlittleman]

BBC Link

I'm sure that someone has been paid a lot of money to come up with some of the ideas here.

This government never fails to surprise me with their false sincerity towards the populous! While they would wish to continue to charge car tax the idea of charging for road use will effectively mean that people are paying twice.

The only plus side is that as with any idea meted out by our incompetent government will take decades to implement, although it will be overbudget, overdue, fail to achieve its stated aims and generally be a balls up of the highest order - pie in the sky ideas of GPS tracking fitted to all vehicles!

If road charging were a replacment to road tax then I would agree with it (to an extent) but without sensible alternatives to driving the government knows thaey are onto a winner hence - "road tolls could bring £28bn a year of benefits to bus and rail users", or should that be the treasury!

 

[sheike_a_leg]

i thought we had already paid for the road network, am i to understand that lord eddie is saying that part of our network will be handed over to a private company and turned into a toll road

the government cannot take existing roads and toll them, we have paid for the road network or are they going to scrap the road tax disc , then once new toll roads are built charge us for using them,, fair one

whats not fair is to take, existing roads from the road network, which we have paid for and toll them. thats is stealing , the government should remember what happened with the poll tax

 

[taffridge]

AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!

Just posted on the smoking thread, same social engineering.

God this government wind me up with their little initiatives to make daily life extremely expensive, If they bring this in RESPOD had better go up.

 

[fastmedic]

Since when has anything the government done in the past few years really meant a lot to the motorist? I seem to see costs of using whatever means, be it a car, bus, train or tube increase way above inflation levels. Service levels are at the very best poor for what we pay.

I drive about 45k a year in business miles, some 10k private. I can financially feel the pinch with increasing costs and those costs will be passed on to my customers at the end of the day.

I would not mind paying for use of the motorway if the cash raised was guaranteed to be reinvested into the transport infrastructure and not into the coffers of the a treasury 'any other black hole to fill account'!

Here endeth the rant


fastmedic

 

[Mr_Fingerz]

This started life about 4-5 years ago as the Lorry Road User Charge (LRUC). LRUC was a sop to the haulage industry who were complaining about (a) the high cost of diesel (shortly after the fuel protests) and (b) being under-cut by foreign hauliers who were bringing tractor units across from the continent filled with cheaper diesel. There was also some smaller concerns that foreign drivers weren't abiding by the drivers hours rules.

The technology for this exists (or will do soon), there are already traffic monitors embedded in our roads.

 

[Nutstrangler]

Yet another way for this bunch of incompetents, also known as Neu Arbeit, to rip off the public, nicht war?

 

[Passed-over_Loggie]

Nobody has mentioned compensating reductions in Road Fund Tax and fuel tax and Duty. Odd that, isn't it. We became civilised and got rid of Turnpike roads over a hundred years ago. Is this progress or didn't we have the skill to legalise Highway robbery then?

This will also have the added bonus of a total record of our vehicle movements, Dates, times, location; the bloody works. The whole thing is bloody outrageous and wouldn't it be nice to have an Opposition Party. Some of these town living tree-huggers should live out in the bhundu like I do and see how well they do with public transport and bikes! Cnuts.

 

[Ord_Sgt]

Just another tax dressed up as necessary for future development. Don't be fooled by this bunch of chancers.

I had the missfortune to have to travel by train from London to North Wales a few months ago while visiting the UK. 78 fricking quid and 4 1/2 hours to travel 200 bloody miles. Integrated transport policy my arrse. There is no practical alternative to driving on anything other than short local journeys in most cases. Labour were supposed to fix this with their 10 year plan. Hmmmm another lie.

Don't be fooled by this bunch of chancers. As someone mentioned remember the poll tax and its consequences!!

 

[Mr_Fingerz]

I do an 80 mile round trip each day from home to work and back via public transport. It cost £16.60 each day, and takes 3 hours. All but 10 miles is done on a dual carriageway.

If I was to use my car it would cost £16.00 travel, £6.00 to park, and then £5.00 congestion charge (when it gets implemented), but it would only take me an hour and a half to make the journey. If you were to add in the cost of my time and road charging, it would make it uneconomical for me to go to work.

It doesn't chime with the government's environmental agenda either. It's not as if I can work in an office closer to home either, b'stards are about to close the one nearest my house.

 

[Ancient_Mariner]

While they would wish to continue to charge car tax the idea of charging for road use will effectively mean that people are paying twice.

TWICE? If I might correct you :-

1. VAT on car purchase price
2. Road tax disc
3. Insurance premium tax on your compulsory car insurance
4. VAT on petrol
5. Fuel duty
6. VAT on the fuel duty (i.e. the tax is taxed)

 

[Mr_Fingerz]

The VAT on the fuel in your car is 7/47's of the retail price. So that's the cost of production, transport, excise duty. VAT sticking tax is not charged at any other stage in this process.

But you are right about double taxation in that VAT is being charged on the duty element.

 

[Civvy_Shot]

Don't forget that your 'Tax Disc', which used many years ago to be called Road Fund Licence is now Vehicle Excise Duty. No mention of a fund for maintaining the infrastructure whatsoever.

Oh, don't forget your new vehicle First Registration Fee.

 

[Bugsy]

I might have this wrong and I'd appreciate correction, but wasn't the reason for making roads in the UK public in the first place so that people could use them freely and thus facilitate the exchange of goods and persons to areas where they were needed/where work was available? Likewise, wasn't the Road Fund Tax actually a dedicated tax when it was first levied?

MsG

 

[chocolate_frog]

Is it any wonder I am going to P1ss off and leave the old country?

With these cnuts in charge, this place will be a p1sspot full of sh1t anytime soon.

 

[tattooedlady]

Its seems daft that the government want to stop the roads being congested but don't seem willing to offer any good effective alternative to travelling in our own cars.

They want to charge us more to drive on the roads to try to stop us using them so much, but train fares are increasing and bus services in most areas are being reduced, so what option it there?

 

[ugly]

There is no option, with the costs rising for getting to work employers will be forced to up the pay or allowance or higher interest free season ticket loans to keep their staff at work. we cant all be 35 hr a week secondary teachers, oh yes theyll be taxed for the 12 weeks holiday soon!

 

[blue-sophist]

Not going to go mad on the numbers game, but in UK I paid for using roads through fuel tax [rarely got over 20 mpg], Road Tax, MOT and all the other taxes. Where it all went, God [probably not Gordon] knows.

Charging again [and again and again and again] is taking the p**s. UK Road users already pay X times over.

 

[tankie88]

I wonder if i should buy a horse and cart???

 

[ugly]

I wonder if i should buy a horse and cart???

Diddiecoy!

 

[Blues_Cav]

I wonder if i should buy a horse and cart???

For Christ sake do not buy a horse. If you do that old Gordon will start taxing them to. I can see it now, the Queens Life Guard trying to queue up at the top of the Mall to pay inner London Horse congestion.