Pay as you drive ?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Sat 31 May 2003 15:48
Pay as you drive ? - volvoman
Apparently the motorists\' friend Mr Darling has admitted that the government is considering imposing a \'per mile\' tax on motorists to replace the tax disc.
Now we\'ve had the discussion about getting rid of the tax disc and putting the tax on fuel (to preclude evasion, reduce admin. costs & even provide basic 3rd party insurance) so if they\'re thinking about replacing the VED disc wouldn\'t this be easier than setting up a whole new system for monitoring and charging motorists according to their mileage ?
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Sat 31 May 2003 15:52
Pay as you drive ? - Gen
is this just per mile or per mile at certain times? I would support it if was daytime miles much more than night ones
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Sat 31 May 2003 15:55
Pay as you drive ? - Gen
couldn't put it on petrol as that would mean the government in their 3 litre jaguars would have to pay proportionally more per mile than little old lady in a 1 litre runabout...our society is about equality you know...
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Sat 31 May 2003 16:07
Pay as you drive ? - volvoman
I think the intention is that the charge may be variable to allow for a higher charge on some roads as opposed to others. However, I think the systems required to monitor and administer this would be hugely
expensive and complex, thereby adding to the tax burden. Get rid of VED, put the tax on petrol and be done with it I say !
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Sat 31 May 2003 18:09
Pay as you drive ? - Marcos{P}
You already have different VED grades and if you own a big thirsty motor you pay an awfull lot more in tax through the fuel already.
I don't think we can accomodate any more tax on fuel but I really don't know what the answer would be.
Scooters maybe?
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Sat 31 May 2003 18:12
Pay as you drive ? - frostbite
I agree with your sentiments V, but I think that we can positively guarantee that what they have in mind will be unfair, hugely expensive and complex, and only of benefit to 'their' buddies to implement and operate.
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Sat 31 May 2003 18:27
Pay as you drive ? - leatherpatches
...and if Alistair Darling's track record of shambolic CSA governance is anything to go by, it won't happen anyway due to easily forseeable and preventable glitches.

Then Blair will just move him to another post before the poo hits the fan, like he did last time.
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Sat 31 May 2003 18:51
Pay as you drive ? - Andrew-T
Hear hear v-m. It must be simple to abolish VED and recover the lost income from use of fuel, which should be in proportion to the damage done to the roads. I know it's already FAR too expensive, but that means drivers can drive ecomomically if they want to save money, and choose a gas-guzzler aware of the consequences. Now what can we do about those great big 4x4's?
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Sat 31 May 2003 19:09
Pay as you drive ? - Tom Shaw
For the umteenth time VED is charged for owning a vehicle, not to fund road repairs. High milage drivers are almost all business users who are contributing to the economy. Hike their costs up and they will either go bust or pass the increases on to their customers, like I would have to.

With a bit of rounding up thrown in for good measure, of course.
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Sat 31 May 2003 23:19
Pay as you drive ? - Armitage Shanks{P}
It may be called VED now but it was called the Road Fund Licence and that is just what it was meant to do - fund roads! I shall probably be quite happy to 'pay as I drive' but I shall expect to drive for free if the Government's spy in the sky shows that I haven't been able to average (say) 20 mph in built up areas, 55 in the country and 65 on dual carriageways and motorways. I'll pay to use a sensible road system if it provides me with the service I am paying for, which it clearly doesn't now. A bit like most other things Bliar's lot have got a hand in!
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Sat 31 May 2003 23:45
Pay as you drive ? - Andrew-T
Tom - almost any driver will be contributing to your economy in some way, either by going to a tourist destination or just by involving the many facets of the motor industry. The saturation of the road network suggests that the cost of moving vehicles is not a very great deterrent. If it was, more people would car-share, use buses or whatever.
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Sun 1 Jun 2003 20:34
Pay as you drive ? - Flat in Fifth
Volvoman,

The preferred system that our little Darling proposes is the GPS based road tolling. This is generally as previously outlined in the reports from David Begg's Commission for Integrated Transport mob.

Unfortunately the part of Begg's report they appear to be ignoring is the very clear statement, repeated a number of times, that whilst this road tolling could work very well, ALL the pieces of the Governmenst 10 year plan regarding public transport MUST be in place first.

In summary; charging people for driving in congested areas will only work if they have realistic alternative choices.

Read the report, you may find it quite illuminating.
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