Road Charging Scehemes.

[Kimbers]

OK so all my fleet magazines have front page news see below for the whole article.

My Points:

1. The Govt have once again craftily taken the burden away from themselves by just changing the law to allow local councils to do it themselves. Even though they have specifically told my local council that "They have to bring it in as we will be reducing our support to Councils and this is the best way to replace the revenue". So they can then say "We didn't bring it in, blame your local Council"

2. 10 Applications are already being looked at Including Norfolk, W Midlands, Staffs, Herts, and Essex......I mean Norfolk? Only 20 people own cars here for Christ sake!!

3. Tories have OFFICIALLY stated they are opposed to road pricing.............Thats the general election sorted then.

4. This is just a fore runner to sneaking in National road pricing countrywide, despite them saying it's not. After reading this do you believe anything they say anymore?

"Road charging: Coming to a city near you

30 May, 2007

By Paul Barker

The Government has finally published its draft for the long-awaited Local Transport Bill, giving local authorities in major urban areas new powers to introduce road pricing schemes.

The bill promises to

[Guest Troy Halliday]

The US and it's alllies (....erm us) will soon be bombing our own country to get rid of the evil dictators.

It's great to live in a plutocracy isn't it.

[Katie]

It's without doubt the thin end of a massive wedge. Yet another tax on working people. Where will it stop? This tax makes me really cross, we HAVE to get to and from work.

I recently looked into the cost of getting the bus to and from work. Assuming it was running and on time (hmmmmm) it is

[GasketsGone]

And further more... what the tree huggers and tax collecting money robbers dont understand is...

even if (and i say IF) the money collected is used to "improve" local transport for say, quote "bus services" and, no doubt other hair brained schemes such as "park and ride" - i suspect most people (and defianately me) will STILL NOT WANT TO GET ON A BLOODY BUS!

and there is one very, very easy way to prove wheather or not any of these ridicolous ideas would actually work for the stated objectives of getting people out of their comfortable, on time, functional, convenient pride and joys (and not just yet another scheme to raise revenue from the few people in this country who seem to support the rest of the lazy population these days).....

MAKE ALL PUBLIC TRANSPORT FREE NOW....

and if a sigificantly less amount of people drive their cars, then i for one will be very surpirsed - cos i dont think you could PAY me to get on a bus instead of using my car, in fact any car, not just an Esprit!

And i'll wager most people are the same...(not just the petrolheads reading this)...

[Katie]

Well said.

And at the risk of sounding like a stuck up cow, which I don't think I am, I'll add the following.......I don't particularly like buses. My experience (and I used them regulalry as a student of 7 years) is that they are not clean, they smell, they are not reliable.....the excuse 'sorry I'm late but my bus was cancelled' would not hold water with my boss, you have people shouting at the tops of their voices on mobile 'phones about God knows what, loud personal stereo noise, people sitting next to you who look and smell like they could use a good wash. All in all you'd arrive for work feeling less than refreshed.

The alternative looks as though it will carry a high price. I was very aware last week of numerous traffic census being conducted in the Reading area, wondered if it might have anything to do with charges being brought in.

Also, does anyone know what the charges are likely to be, and the times they might be enforced?

[Kimbers]

It will be mileage charged. So 10 miles on a main conjested route will cost you (apart from alot of petrol for stopping starting etc...and all the tax that that gets) about

[bigsi]

fact of the matter is this plain and simple.

it makes no difference who is in power here, the governments in the uk stopped listening to it people a long time ago, and being as stupid and docile a nation as we are we let it get this way.

best quote i have is this, from v for vendetta

a people should not be afraid of its government, its government should be afraid of its people

[Laura]

I'd gladly travel to work by public transport if it were possible. As much as I enjoy driving, my journey to work is mainly sitting in traffic for 1-2 hours so if I could sit on a bus/train a read a book or have a bit of a snooze I'd be happy with that.

Having looked at tfl's website however it seems my journey would involve:

4 min walk to train station

11 min bus ride

32 min bus ride

32 min tube ride

10 min walk

48 min bus ride

Not accounting for the wait times between services that would total 2hrs 13mins, I've not been able to find out the cost of this either.

What really seals the deal for me though is to take this journey I would have to leave my house at 19:06 to get to work at 08:40 the next day totalling 13hrs 33mins and making me nearly an hour late for work!

I can see me switching to public transport any time soon!

[Guest Steve L]

Perhaps another Poll Tax rebellion is required ?

[BC007]

I always thought one of the biggest questions in life is whether we are alone in the universe or not. Now, it's why do people continue voting for a government that doesn't listen to them? And believe me, come the next election the grid locked masses will do exactly the same again. Amazing!

[tonyp]

Slightly off topic, but linked, is the concept of the new unitary councils. We are likely to have one up here in the next year or so, even though nobody wants it. As well as the democratically elected councillors there will be a few 'chosen good men' to oversee & rule over the council workings. In other words local government becomes a non-accountable Quango.

See how it all begins to stack up.

Come on Mr Putin, lob a little nuke or 2 now, Downing st, please

[Tentenths]

I have the answer.

Someone needs to start an anti-road charging petition on No 10's petition website. If, say, 1.8 million people sign it the government are bound to listen...

[Kimbers]

NOT!!

Oh and..... ....by the way!

[Jonathan]

Someone came up with a goodun the other day :

A no drive day / week.

Govt want's us out of the cars and onto public transport...Fine....lets see :

1. Public transport with grind to a halt at about 7:15am with a massive over demand.

2. People wont get to work anywhere near on time if at all crippling the economy in minutes.

3. All the tax from petrol etc will be lost.

Govt needs cars as much as we do, this is they're very good at taxing us and we're shite at being citizens.

French have the right idea, everytime something goes wrong they blockade a port - we're too lazy to even get up off our asses to sort a protest out and the govt know it !

[wiseraven]

One point nobody's mentioned, is that the way this has been framed means that local authorities will have a vested interest in CAUSING, or at least, maintaining congestion. You can look forward to more rat-runs being closed off, more bus lanes for non-existant buses, etc. etc. This has absolutely nothing to do with reducing congestion.

In the original thread about the petition, I listed a whole slew of measures that would have a real impact on congestion, but of course, that's not the government's real agenda, so they have no chance of even being considered.

When I first started working where I am now, I was without a car for about 6 months. At the time, I lived just 4 miles from work, but to be in for 9am, I had to leave home at about 6:45. When I arrived, I was frequently soaked to the skin and lucky to be alive. When I got a car, I could leave home at 8:40 and be in work on time, warm, dry, safe and not stressed out.

In an earlier job, I used to commute from Manchester to Liverpool. That was a three hour journey, including walking to the station, two trains (usually standing room only), a tube ride and a bus, with long waits between each stage. I was spending so much money (both on season tickets and taxis to cover for the late running or non-arrival), that I couldn't afford to buy a car. In the end, the stress and exhaustion of the long days pushed me close to a nervous breakdown and I had to leave the job, even though I loved the work.

NOTHING (apart from banning cars completely) would persuade me back to the hell that is public transport.

The problem I face is that nothing, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING would persuade me to vote Tory (just don't get me started on them!), and there is no viable alternative. Like so many others, I feel completely disenfranchised, and it's because of this that the government is right to believe it can ignore the people and get away with it.

Time for a drink methinks

[abrussich]

How about having a tea party? There was a rather large one held in Boston some years back and it seemed to work rather well.

[oneshot]

Well I had reason to use public transport recently.

I had to get to the garage to pick the Lotus up. A trip of about 23 miles by car, but as I was picking the car up I had to go on public transport.

So to cut a long story short: 30 minute walk to the station, followed by a 2 train journies (well 1 was replaced by a bus!) and a 45 minute walk the other end.

Total time: Left home at 8:00am, arrived at the garage at 12:00 - 4 hours!!!

[mayevora]

And further more... what the tree huggers and tax collecting money robbers dont understand is...

even if (and i say IF) the money collected is used to "improve" local transport for say, quote "bus services" and, no doubt other hair brained schemes such as "park and ride" - i suspect most people (and defianately me) will STILL NOT WANT TO GET ON A BLOODY BUS!

and there is one very, very easy way to prove wheather or not any of these ridicolous ideas would actually work for the stated objectives of getting people out of their comfortable, on time, functional, convenient pride and joys (and not just yet another scheme to raise revenue from the few people in this country who seem to support the rest of the lazy population these days).....

MAKE ALL PUBLIC TRANSPORT FREE NOW....

and if a sigificantly less amount of people drive their cars, then i for one will be very surpirsed - cos i dont think you could PAY me to get on a bus instead of using my car, in fact any car, not just an Esprit!

And i'll wager most people are the same...(not just the petrolheads reading this)...

100% agree with Jim.

I would be a bit stumped trying to go to work, then do my job and then come home on public transport fullstop.

[Dan]

I was very aware last week of numerous traffic census being conducted in the Reading area, wondered if it might have anything to do with charges being brought in.

Hmm, last week was the school holidays, wasn't it? So what's the vested interest in gathering these stats when commuting journey times are reduced by about 40%... Obviously it's not a normal week for traffic levels, so there must be a vested interest...

[Kimbers]

The vested interests are in the fact that Local councils are being told this is the best way for them to deal with the cuts the Govt are gonna make in their funding because of their massive overspending.

It may be a drop in the ocean but I love the fact that they are spending

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

Erm, No WE VOTED YOU IN TO REPRESENT OUR INTERESTS!

I'm willing to bet that's not exactly true Tony!

First things first - I am totally opposed to Road pricing and don't defend it.

There are a few things that are inaccurate here though...

This is NOT the beginning of Road Charging - it IS the beginning of the road charging TRIALS which require this change in the law in order to start them.

I believe they are due to report somewhere between 2010 and 2012. That is when the actual decision will be taken.

THAT is when the petition will be needed again.... There will need to be another one of AT LEAST the same magnitude - ideally greater - in order to display any kind of public 'dissent' otherwise whatever Government of the day will say - "see the public are coming around to the idea" etc etc etc

No decision has actually been made but yes, indeed they do have a total hard-on for the concept and the trials will either have to fail abysmally or they will need to have a SERIOUSLY LARGE political reason not to do it!

Yes it is the think end of the wedge.

Yes it is bollocks!

Tony - beware the "Nicholas Ridley Manoeuvre"...

When bogged down in planning blight and local opposition to the City Airport, he gave a cast iron assurance that no Jet Engined planes would ever be allowed to land there in order to eliminate the local opposition. The airport was then built. Within 3 years he gave permission for Jet Planes to land there. If I genuinely thought there was someone out there who offered a different approach to all this tree hugging hippy green crap, I'd vote for them myself whoever they were (cept the 'BNP' and the 'BNP for toffs') Ditto the London Mayor -I'd vote Tory if 1) they can find a candidate willing to have their career destroyed by losing to Ken or 2) they offered a genuinely different approach that would prohibit arsehole councils from pulling stunts like charging you more to even PARK your car on the road because they don't like it Alas we're stuck with him and will be for some time to come...

[Kimbers]

Rob, take in what you say and it's not that I believe the Tories will cancel the trials BUT, they're the only ones SAYING they will, so it's worth a try in my opinion.

As for London.....Jeremy Clarkson, it's gotta be! In fact I think any party who put Clarkson in charge would win right now. I'll patent the reason why as "The Swartznegger effect!"

[Tentenths]

Doubtless this leaked story is in no way connected with the government's recent poor showing in the opinion polls...

[Jonathan]

Wonder how much of the tax payer's that cost to come to another fore-gone conclusion.

[gghc87]

till after the election. pure spin IMO