motorists to pay for road use...

[froggeh]

https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6160877.stm

This is really annoying me now. How on earth can they justify this? The trouble with the way the government seem to want reduce congestion, is that it's all stick and no carrot.

I wouldn't mind this sort of thing if they sorted out public transport first. It should not cost more to get a train somewhere, than to drive.
Get the freight off the lorries and onto trains, re-nationalise public transport and sort it out. Don't start crazy schemes like this which will just lead to the roads only being populated by rich folk.

[headlamp]

This is one of my pet hate subjects. Since the 50's no government has had a cohesive transport policy so consequently this country has the most congested road and rail network in Europe. It also doesn't help we are the most crowded country in this part of the world!

Everywhere you look there are transport schemes desperate for investment. motroways, the Tube, railways, airports, none of which 'join up'. All have been stymied by lack of investment and punitive planning laws that have left this country and its people with a system that is frankly embarrassing for a G8 country. As recently as 2000 John Prescott announced that the government was going to spend £150 billion (yes, that is the right figure) over 10 years to improve the infrastructure. In 7 years he has spent around £10 billion - most has gone to line the pockets of those involved in PPF schemes and the odd bypass here or there.

The road pricing scheme was initially proposed to replace car tax and road fund licences. (This raises something in the region of £50 billion a year). This proposal has now been dropped and will be used, if it's implemented, alongside the existing taxation regime. The excuse being to 'help the environment', whereas a much greater proportion of CO2 is produced by households. This (and I'm sure any successive government whatever its hue (colour)) will continue to make unreasonable demands on its people & making them more misreable by not providing them with an alternative mode of transport, and taxing their journeys which they need to make to get to work. (I can't see many electricians, plumbers, builders etc. 'working from home' ).

Eddington's report talks about cycles but makes no mention of motorbikes (PTW's) - absolute travesty, given that 70% of cars in the rush hour have one occupant and if a 'PTW friendly' regime was created then more people would switch to bikes to commute, which would reduce congestion and pollution and take the strain off the road network. The report smacks of a politically motivated essay to justify more taxes on the beleagured motorist & road user .
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Using a mobile phone while driving a car should be made a capital offence!

[Itchy]

Gonna go down Westminster to Protest? ,

Oh wait you can't, .

This is what emigration is for , the tories have a secret plan to sell of motorways too aparently
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[Itchy]

[froggeh]

[b-f-c]

And the technology used will track exactly where you are.

Couple that compulsory speed limiting system, and national ID card - what fun living in the UK will be

[Itchy]

[bazza]

I agree that integrated transport systems work. They also cost money to build. So, let's see the plans and the costs and then start talking about road pricing to pay for it.

It's not rocket science. Brownfield sites developed into secure park and ride sites, together with a bus system that runs to within 500m of any point in a city, more frequently during rush hours. Plus free bikes available for those who want them within the area and electric powered transport for the raspberries.

No-one gets to use private transport, not VIPs, not MPs, company directors - everyone uses the public systems. Let them eat their own dogfood for a while and see how quickly it improves.

After 7pm the park and rides become cargo depots where inter-city trucks deliver goods for distribution to urban destinations which are picked up by local transport and delivered. Using some sort of trailer setup, the hydrogen fuel cell engines that move bus units during the day could be hitched to cargo units at night.

Inside ten years, every major city could be car and truck free.

/me wakes up.

Of course, everyone knows road pricing is just an excuse to tax people off the road so the rich aren't inconvenienced by the plebs cluttering up their roads and the govt can piss away more of our money on shite.
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"That's it. You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college."
'98 Ducati 750SS, '08 Suzuki GSX650F ©2004-2014, Bazza's Harmless Banter

[ken]

Wake up, this is not about congestion on our roads, this is about our national funds, look what the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Ireland, the country’s we give aid to, etc, these are costing the country a fortune, we are running short of funds, and the only way this country knows how to get extra funds is more TAXATION, you can only take so much out of the pot, before it needs filling again, ask Gordon brown where my state pension has gone, oh and why you are at it, why did we subsidise the fckn Euro with our gold reserves (which is at an all time low, CUNTS THE LOT OF EM




That’s better rant over
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latest bike 03 R1 in zee red and black

[Trip]

Thought we paid ROAD TAX to use the roads ...
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Bike: Yamaha XJ600N Mileage: 28500 Miles Rider Mileage: Many Miles
CBT: PASSED Theory: PASSED Test: PASSED
Past-CG125 Present - Yamaha XJ600N Future - WHO KNOWS?

[Kickstart]

Hi

The general idea is that it puts people off using certain roads at certain times. Cuts down on congestion in theory.

Practice is that much of the congestion has been created, either deliberatly (to justify such charges) or just through incompetance. Traffic calming, bus lanes, dubious one way systems, traffic lights where roundabouts would be better (or traffic lights on roundabouts), traffic lights badly phased (rather than phased to allow traffic to flow), restricted parking, etc.

Original ideas were that charging schemes would be "revenue neutral". Trouble is that if the treasury want the same revenue (and this latest report was sponsored by the treasury, so you can be certain it is aimed at generating revenue) then we will have to pay for the massive costs of such a scheme. So that is an extra few billion to be paid to cover the running costs.

Problem is, how to avoid such schemes being brought in. Labour are all for it, so we could try voting them out. Trouble is the liberals would be even worse for things like this, while the tories are trying to be more "green" so would no doubt also jump on such a scheme. Only hope is that the tories will realise their current ideas are electoral suicide.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Irezumi aka Reuben]

Even if they bring in such charges I can see it getting dropped very quickly due to it causing the economy to quickly slow down.

Public transport will not be ready to cope with more people for decade's. People will be turning up later for work due to the inconsistent public transport. It will also make more people look towards merely claiming benefit as it will work out finanically better for them than working.

Many people will need to move closer to their job's or get new job's closer to home creating all sort's of problem's. I realise the government may say this is a good thing. However where do they intend to build more houses in the major city's, or how do they intend to make buisnesses spread out from the major city's? Both these neatly lead straight back to the inadequate public transport system.

The government will be shooting themselves in the foot to the public's demise.

Or you could just use the road's "illegally" as I expect many many many million's of people will do.

[froggeh]

[stinkwheel]

And the government juggernaut crashes through public oppinion once again, shedding yet another tier of incompetant, inefficient beurocracy behind it.

As if the road tax administration system wasn't bloated and overcomplex enough. They now want to generate another office full of inept and lackadaisical public service employees to make our lives a misery. I can think of no possible circumstances in which they will NOT fuck this up.

When will they learn that they could make a vehicle taxation system which is almost totally unavoidable, proportional to your mileage and requires virtually no administration? Simplicity itself. Put the tax onto fuel.

No need for SORN, tax discs, or to pay all your tax in one lump sum. People who use the roads more will pay more. People who drive inefficient, polluting vehicles pay more. The old Grandad who uses his 850cc Fiesta once a week to drive the five miles into town to pick up a newspaper, pays less. Simple, fair and undodgeable.

[Itchy]

[froggeh]

[Itchy]

[Kickstart]

[froggeh]

[NSR Mick]

[Kickstart]

[NSR Mick]

The company I work for has 2 offices. One in Manchester and one in Camberley which I have to travel between often.

If they can get a public transport system that can get me from one to the other and the other small trips I need to do whilst away from home cutting at least an hour of my journey (because thats what it'll take to stop me driving up and down as I can have the stereo on as loud as I like listening to what I like, smoke when I want etc....etc...) I may try it. Only problem is that my view of public transport (outside of major cities) is that it's for the unemployed, pensioners and students.
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If you dont like the way that I ride.......Stop trying to keep up!!!

[froggeh]

[Kickstart]

[NSR Mick]