www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/05/roadpricing_trial.../
I dont think this has been posted - If I'm wrong then mods please delete.
Edited by Pugugly on 06/11/2008 at 23:31
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"The Managed Motorway concept includes measures such as hard-shoulder driving and strictly-enforced lowered speed limits at peak times, which enable a given number of motorway lanes to get a significant amount more traffic through in a given time."
That will only work if they start penalising motorists who sit in a lane when a lane to the left is empty. How many times do you see traffic bumper to bumper in lane three when lanes one and two are relatively clear ? Will the ANPR cameras monitor this too ?
I think the used car trade in northern France and BeNeLux is about to pick up.
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That will only work if they start penalising motorists who sit in a lane when a lane to the left is empty. How many times do you see traffic bumper to bumper in lane three when lanes one and two are relatively clear?
And I assume that whenever you see this you move to the clear lanes on the left.
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Where I am there are only two lanes and lane discipline is actually pretty good most of the time. It is not the UK.
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With a nod to Al Murray......
"If there are rules it must be....."
;-)
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Not really, I'm usually on two wheel so congestion doesn't affect me.
Just make sure Hr. Flick doesn't see me filtering, some rules are made for bending. :)
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Fair enough. Providing that your filtering is sensible, and not like the wannabe organ donor on Monday who in the dark and rain wanted to filter between me and the line of 40' arctics to my left when we were approaching a 60mph forward facing speed camera, and they didn't want to go that slow.
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Fair enough. Providing that your filtering is sensible and not like the wannabe organ donor on Monday.
Absolutely not. I've got two under three year olds who Mum needs help controlling.
Rossi is good but he rides on a racetrack. If I can't see you in your mirrors then I always think what if.
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"If we sit back and do nothing you can be sure that economic growth will lead to gridlock," said Clark, suggesting that perhaps sitting back and doing nothing for the next while might indeed be an option."
We should be so lucky to see ANY economic growth in the next 3 years.
ALL the stats I see suggest a recession MUCH deeper and longer than ANY official forecasts.
As for traffic volumes? They fell c 10% with rising fuel prices and I have yet to see any evidence of a recovery.
And with October new car sales figures due tomorrow, the numbers of new cars going onto the roads is likely to fall dramatically. I estimate 25-30% for October (Sept was -21%).
But hey politicians would not recognise a recession unless they lost their jobs.
Edited by madf on 05/11/2008 at 19:57
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The thing that gets me with this variable road pricing is, how do you know if you are being charged the correct rate? I mean if they are going to have different rates for different roads at different times, how on earth will you be able to check?
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You either trust the bill they send you, or you keep a complete record of everywhere you have driven. And then if there is a difference they won't believe their system is wrong.
More interesting is the suggestion by the government that being able to choose between fully detailed bills showing date, time and place driven, and an amount owed will solve privacy concerns.
I can see it now - "Darling, why have you chosen not to receive fully detailed bills" "um..."
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You either trust the bill they send you or you keep a complete record of everywhere you have driven. And then if there is a difference they won't believe their system is wrong.
From a privacy point of view, it stinks: yet more big-brother monitoring, and yet another situation where the government relies on a system which cannot be perfect, and when it goes wrong they leave it to the citizen to prove their innocence.
The problem, though, is that congestion is not going to evaporate of its own accord, and previous experience is that simply building new roads doesn't solve the problem. Road pricing mechanisms are socially inequitable as well as a further threat to civil liberties, but the problem is that govts don't see any other viable way of seriously reducing the demand for roads. Unless drivers start supporting other measures to reduce road usage, such as huge taxpayer-funded investment in improved public transport and major revisions to planning rules, then govt will continue to see price as the best option.
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Road pricing? So we're paying twice to use the roads then? I thought that was what the "road fund license" was for? Oh sorry, it's "vehicle excise duty" now isn't it.....that's ok, then. Silly me...... ;-)
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>>> So we're paying twice to use the roads then?
Thrice! Fuel Duty as well!
;-)
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Don't forget your insurance tax. What is it now 5% ?
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Then there's the "environment tax".....the charge for disposing of your old tyre and waste oil after a service. Think I'll take along my Halfords waste oil container next time my car goes in for a service, ask them to stick the old oil in because I can take it to the tip myself.....the old tyres make a nice Gatso necklace....oops there's another tax! ;-)
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