Overwhelming ‘no’ to road-charges
09 June 2005
Transport secretary Alistair Darling has outlined his plans to reduce congestion on Britain’s roads, by charging motorists on a pay-per-mile basis. However, the minister looks set to have a hard time convincing motorists of the benefits of his road-charging scheme if the results of our survey are indicative of the mood of the UK public.
Transport secretary Alistair Darling has outlined his plans to reduce congestion on Britain’s roads, by charging motorists on a pay-per-mile basis.
However, the minister looks set to have a hard time convincing motorists of the benefits of his road-charging scheme if the results of our survey are indicative of the mood of the UK public.
On Monday, Whatcar.com asked its readers whether they were for, against or undecided on the government’s proposals to reduce road tax and fuel duty and instead introduce a system of road-charging. Drivers would pay from 2p to £1.30 per mile, depending on the time of day and the type of road used.
A huge 93% said they were against the plans, 5% were in favour, while 2% said they were undecided.
Many readers felt road-charging would unfairly discriminate against low-earning families and would provide no incentive to switch to more fuel-efficient vehicles. Others said the plans would simply move congestion from motorways to cheaper A and B roads. A number of readers were concerned about the economic impact on UK tourism, making lengthy road journeys to tourist hotspots prohibitively expensive.
Surprisingly, readers felt a popular alternative to road charging would be to increase duty on fuel. A selection of Whatcar.com’s readers’ views are published in Road Charging - Your verdict.
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