Goverment Petition: Stop Road Charging Schemes

Originally Posted by timwilky

I see nothing wrong with road charging if

1) they are local and applied purely as a congestion reduction exercise.

However if they are applied as an additional form of tax then who ever proposes them will never be voted into office so it will never happen.

Many people do not have the luxury of public transport or local shops. My parents had a bus service available to them on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

I can use a train to travel from Preston to Knutsford where I work. But the trains are not co-ordinated so I am therefore required to spend 6 hours waiting in Manchester overnight in order to catch the first train to Knutsford. Therefore I have to use a car.


Before any road charging can be introduced. Usable and affordable public transport must exist

The likelihood is that anything brought in would be accompanied by a reduction/removal of other motoring related taxes, as a sweetener. And I should imagine that they'll try and get us used to the idea gradually by doing little schemes here and there until we're over the shock. But it's still a very brave politician who takes the plunge on this one!!

Oh and if you live in Knutsford you should be OK, but i reckon we're gonna get hit bigtime in London!!

Ness, I appreciate that you work in this business, and know a lot more about it than others, but:

Public transport in this country is a joke. Why would I want to spend £15 per day travelling into London by public transport which is unreliable and uncomfortable ?

I spent 3 days in town last week. One day the tube system was almost brought to its knees, another my overground train was 20 minutes late and on the other day the closure of a tube line led me to having to grab a taxi to get to an appointment on time. Not to mention the fact that I had to stand between one guy with BO and another with severe "garlic breath" for over 20 minutes on the tube.

Before you can start laying any further taxation on motorists, there must be a major revision in the way public transport is run. It works fine in a number of European countries because of the amount of investment it has, and the fact that fares are subsidised.

If the government really wanted us on public transport they'd do something about it. In my opinion, they see this as another way to tax the working classes, especially those who work in the big cities and are therefore more likely to earn higher wages. They already have over 40% of what I earn, plus all the other taxes I have to pay, why should I give them more without them giving me something in return??

.

I would like to know how the haulage industry will cope taking the following into account

1] 100% of goods travel by road at some time getting to their final destination
2] Highest operating costs in Europe,primarily fuel
3] Limited to the hours we can work
4] Limited where and when we can drive,night time driving bans and not all premises are 24hrs
5]Shortage of drivers and falling standards due to immigrant influx
That is just a few of the problems


In short,any increases we are subjected to will be passed on to the retail, purchasers be it food clothing, books, videos, original equipment or spares,almost everything you or I buy will be dearer
Think a little deeper before you decide on it being good or bad for the city/rural/ commuting individual

public transport is so so so bad. I've had a set of wheels since i could drive because i need to have access to that freedom. Blackboxes are just another step reducing any freedom possible. The world could never cope with everyone sticking to the rules as we'd end up like those american christians! :P
The roads are only congested because theres a prehistoric road system in use. Other cities can managed it. Maybe that needs investigating first- for the benefit of the country and all

[timwilky]

Any truth in the rumor I am about to create that you will be required to insert your government issued ID card into the tracker box as not only do the government need to know what cars are where. They also need to know who is in the car.

Multi occupancy vehicles will require the owner to purchase and have installed by an authorised installation engineer at the owners expense a card reader per seat. These readers to be linked to the car ignition. The car will not run without a valid card inserted per occupied seat.

Satellite tracking will be used to lock the car accelerator and prevent speeding. It will also be interfaced with all roadside cameras to take a photo of the driver and occupants and cross reference them with the prerequisite installed ID cards.

Step two will be to require the compulsory distruction of all vehicles deemed to be anti social. That will include all motorcyles, All cars that have an engine size above 900cc.

The only exception to these rules will be for members of Parliament and the police who will be permitted souped up vehicle of 1600cc to catch those few violators of the proposed anti social vehicle rules.

All freight is to be transported by train and electric truck. don't say it is unfeasible, the dairy industry proved for decades that they could transport goods by electric vehicles.


OK rumor mill start churning

Originally Posted by timwilky

Any truth in the rumor I am about to create that you will be required to insert your government issued ID card into the tracker box as not only do the government need to know what cars are where. They also need to know who is in the car.

Multi occupancy vehicles will require the owner to purchase and have installed by an authorised installation engineer at the owners expense a card reader per seat. These readers to be linked to the car ignition. The car will not run without a valid card inserted per occupied seat.

Satellite tracking will be used to lock the car accelerator and prevent speeding. It will also be interfaced with all roadside cameras to take a photo of the driver and occupants and cross reference them with the prerequisite installed ID cards.

Step two will be to require the compulsory distruction of all vehicles deemed to be anti social. That will include all motorcyles, All cars that have an engine size above 900cc.

The only exception to these rules will be for members of Parliament and the police who will be permitted souped up vehicle of 1600cc to catch those few violators of the proposed anti social vehicle rules.

All freight is to be transported by train and electric truck. don't say it is unfeasible, the dairy industry proved for decades that they could transport goods by electric vehicles.


OK rumor mill start churning