Road charging - are bikes going to be included?
Discussion
All of this recent talk about road charging has got me thinking. Are bikes going to be included in this scheme? If the argument is congestion, then surely they cannot expect bikes to pay as they barely contribute to it. Might be very good for the motorcycle industry and for raising the whol;e profile of bikes in genmeral. What about the whole tax on fuel thing? I would have though everyhting is either in or out.
Far more interestingly, has anyone looked at the implications of putting a black box inside a motorcycle? Would have to be pretty damn small.
Would like to pay 43p/l fuel though...
I always think that if people know someone who rides a motorcycle, they're far more likely to be on the look out, courteous to them rather than treating them with disdain (as I have experienced on a few occasions)
goodo
Far more interestingly, has anyone looked at the implications of putting a black box inside a motorcycle? Would have to be pretty damn small.
Would like to pay 43p/l fuel though...
I always think that if people know someone who rides a motorcycle, they're far more likely to be on the look out, courteous to them rather than treating them with disdain (as I have experienced on a few occasions)
goodo
Of course they would look to include bikers.
This 'road pricing' scam has nothing to do with reducing congestion and everything to do with raising further taxes and making trains/buses actually look financially appealing. It also allows further control of the population (for our own good!) and automated speed ticketing!
This 'road pricing' scam has nothing to do with reducing congestion and everything to do with raising further taxes and making trains/buses actually look financially appealing. It also allows further control of the population (for our own good!) and automated speed ticketing!
I don't think the government can introduce this thing without the support of the public. I agree, the politicians are not exactly trustworthy when it comes down to stealth taxing. The fiver congestion charge fixed for 5 years didn't last very long. When they realised that the scheme had been almost too successful for its own good and now they had to pay for the millions of pounds to install and run the CC, they upped it to 8 quid. They could certainly do the same thing with the road charging. When they find that they have pushed people off the road, and they have to recover the costs for 10 billion pounds worth of black boxes and cameras and automated billing systems and fraud protection and....
It's a bit like this whole national identity cards thing, it's going to cost the government a fortune to implement. Billions of pounds. And for what? For added security? To stop terrorists? Methinks they're a bit cleverer than that. They want our biometric data.
I do not drive to work, I cycle, now living and working fairly close by, but I could easily be riding a motorcycle to work. I spent may days of my life stuck on the M25 driving from Reigate to SLough every day, and then London to Slough, and I have to say, there are a lot of journeys which could be avoided. The fluidity of the labour market is made possible by the motor car. People can live and work further away than ever before. and driving to work is cheap (relatively) compared to the alternative. I work in consultancy, and I generally go where the work is.
If the Road charging was introduced, apart from a number of people leaving the country, there would be a tightening of the movement of people that makes the south east such a dynamic and productive workplace. A job position is easily filled ecause people can move around. If people can't afford to travel 50 miles on the M25 every day, they would have to take jobs closer to home. Those who do need to travel on the roads as part of their jobs will recover the costs from their employers. Employers will not be able to just locate next to a major roads (M4 corridoor, M25 etc), they will find a place where their workforce live within cheap travelling distance, or be prepared to reimburse them to travel to work (business will find a way). Other parts of the country where there is no road charging (like East Anglia, and further up) will have a business boom. This will spread the people further out from London and the south east. It will certainly be a good thing for the M25, and those who really need to get to work in an hour, as those who can't afford it won't travel, but I'm not convinced that it will be beneficial overall for the economy.
But here's the thing I don't get. The guy who wrote this report, Sir Rod British Airways seems to be saying that they won't have to build any more roads. Now this is a bit like my office manager saying that we aren't allowed any more server space, and that if they give it to us, we'll just use it up. Well, yes, but the office is growing, taking on people all the time, and the work we are doing is increasing, therefore it figures that we need more server space. If the UK population is likely to increase, then we will need to make an alowance for them on the roads. Travelling by car is the most efficient way of getting form A to B, and people are going to do it. Their lifesytle demands it. If the government pushes this road charging, there will be a massive shift in people's lives, less fluid labour market, more dynamic property market as people move closer to their work. But ultimately, the business will pick up the cost, and the govt never loses out. If they do, they just put the price up to £2.50 per mile instead. SO economically it could be a bit of a disaster for the government.
Does anyone have any other ideas though?
Though not.
It's a bit like this whole national identity cards thing, it's going to cost the government a fortune to implement. Billions of pounds. And for what? For added security? To stop terrorists? Methinks they're a bit cleverer than that. They want our biometric data.
I do not drive to work, I cycle, now living and working fairly close by, but I could easily be riding a motorcycle to work. I spent may days of my life stuck on the M25 driving from Reigate to SLough every day, and then London to Slough, and I have to say, there are a lot of journeys which could be avoided. The fluidity of the labour market is made possible by the motor car. People can live and work further away than ever before. and driving to work is cheap (relatively) compared to the alternative. I work in consultancy, and I generally go where the work is.
If the Road charging was introduced, apart from a number of people leaving the country, there would be a tightening of the movement of people that makes the south east such a dynamic and productive workplace. A job position is easily filled ecause people can move around. If people can't afford to travel 50 miles on the M25 every day, they would have to take jobs closer to home. Those who do need to travel on the roads as part of their jobs will recover the costs from their employers. Employers will not be able to just locate next to a major roads (M4 corridoor, M25 etc), they will find a place where their workforce live within cheap travelling distance, or be prepared to reimburse them to travel to work (business will find a way). Other parts of the country where there is no road charging (like East Anglia, and further up) will have a business boom. This will spread the people further out from London and the south east. It will certainly be a good thing for the M25, and those who really need to get to work in an hour, as those who can't afford it won't travel, but I'm not convinced that it will be beneficial overall for the economy.
But here's the thing I don't get. The guy who wrote this report, Sir Rod British Airways seems to be saying that they won't have to build any more roads. Now this is a bit like my office manager saying that we aren't allowed any more server space, and that if they give it to us, we'll just use it up. Well, yes, but the office is growing, taking on people all the time, and the work we are doing is increasing, therefore it figures that we need more server space. If the UK population is likely to increase, then we will need to make an alowance for them on the roads. Travelling by car is the most efficient way of getting form A to B, and people are going to do it. Their lifesytle demands it. If the government pushes this road charging, there will be a massive shift in people's lives, less fluid labour market, more dynamic property market as people move closer to their work. But ultimately, the business will pick up the cost, and the govt never loses out. If they do, they just put the price up to £2.50 per mile instead. SO economically it could be a bit of a disaster for the government.
Does anyone have any other ideas though?
Though not.
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