"Nick H (UK)" wrote in message
...
Oliver Keating wrote:

"Ian Smith" wrote in message
...

"Tom Sacold" wrote in message
...
See:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/polit...086280,00.html

Perhaps as more traffic jams occur, more people will be encouraged
to find other means of getting there. Perhaps we don't need even more
taxation, which is really just money pulled from somewhere else, and
which we would throw back into the economy anyway, of our own accord.
Funny thing, free market forces.


But of course free market forces only work if people are charged for the
services (ie roads) that they use. Currently roads are free(1)

(1) So you may argue about fuel duty etc.etc. but this is unbelievably
crude
in terms of road pricing as to be ignored.


--
"Transport is the life blood of the economy."





Indeed one may so argue!. Road tax: £10 a month before I even go
anywhere. Fuel tax a lot more. And then there is however much of my
Council Tax my local authority spends on making the roads less
car-friendly. Crude it may be, but a hefty charge on road usage it is.
Free? Absolutely no way.

Fiar enough, but isn't that why such a congestion tax would be "revenue
neutral"?

Of course, if these existing taxes taxes were scrapped, and road usage
was then charged by usage... But then fuel tax does that anyway.

Fuel tax though depends on the efficiency of cars - diesel cars pay less but
cause just as much congestion, and arguably more pollution (but that is
another debate).

Also, people who commute 3 miles in highly congested traffic will pay far,
far less than people who commute 30 miles on the motorway, and that isn't
necessirly good.

Also, fuel duty is not time-discriminative.



--
Nick H (UK)