Road-pricing:

Don't be old, poor or work

by Terry Hudson

IN AN occasional column where we offer readers the chance to air their views on issues, Terry Hudson, a member of  the Association of British Drivers, from Herne Bay, gives his opinion on road tolls.

MANCHESTER has now become the first city to grab some of the £290 million for the year 2008/9 the Government has made available in its Transport Innovation Fund to start road-tolling trials. The government forecasts that this will rise to £2,550 million by 2014/15.

With no shortage of cash, there will be many of these trials taking place in Britain in the next few years as different systems are tested, for the purpose of refining a system that can be introduced nationwide. What is not so obvious is that behind these trials will be large companies spurring these schemes forward, as there are going to be vast profits to be made in supplying equipment for start-up, running and maintenance of said systems. Then we have the logistics of processing over 30,000,000 million vehicle owners with itemized bills.         

Though nothing is near finalized, it would seem that any road tolling would be based on the types of  road used - motorway, A or B road etc - the time of day and distance traveled, so there are some pretty complex permutations and plenty of scope for errors in billing!

So how is this going to affect the people of Kent? As one of the more congested counties of Britain, I would say that it will be pretty expensive to drive here.

All three major political parties are fully behind road tolling and have a general view that congestion at the busiest times will be cut by 50 per cent, which is great - great that is, if you are not one of the 50 per cent that will be priced off the road'

So who is going to be driving in this monetary-based two-tier transport system? Businesses will absorb the costs, which of course will be passed on to the consumer.

Those that receive travel allowances as part of their job, like MPs, and get a good pension at the end of it, so they have no fear of restricted travel in old age, and the more wealthy members of society will just drive on undeterred by cost. It is not going to be a system based on need, only wealth.

The Government will tell you that if we travel outside the rush hour, it will be cheaper. Well you could start work a couple of hours later than you do now, but then of course you will finish a couple of hours later.

Will your boss want this extended day, with all that extra heating, lighting etc? Do you want to get home when your kids are in bed, or there is little left of the evening to enjoy?   Will you be forced to get a lower-paid job nearer home (the Confederation of British Industry supports road tolling) and have a general decrease in your living standards?

Some people that are retired and do a limited mileage may pay less, as they have the benefit to choose when they can travel, but will they get as many visits from grown-up children, or friends who work and have spent their travel budget? Will drivers seek out "cheaper" alternative routes, causing an increase in more rural traffic? Also, for example, the M2 is statistically safer than the A2, but the A2 will be a cheaper option, so will we see a rise in accidents or even more congestion?

For every £1 collected in direct motoring taxes, only about 13p is put back into our road system,

So we are not arguing here over shortage of money, it is lack of government will to give us the road system we all so dearly pay for and investment in a road system "fit for purpose" in keeping with the needs of the 21st century.

The more fuel you use, the more you pay - it is a simple, effective system of tax collection. We do not need intrusive road tolling, where every vehicle journey is monitored and stored on some giant database. The first priority is to make the best use of the roads we already have, improve where necessary and build some new roads where required. These can be in tunnels in the more environmentally sensitive areas, just as other countries do.

Remember today we all sit in jams for nothing, tomorrow we all will pay.