Mark Fry wrote:
"Take a Walk" wrote...
Diversity Isn't A Codeword For Anti-White wrote:

I totally agree! on TalkRadio this morning there was a debate about
this new toll road and most callers supported it! I thought you bunch
of morons! Only a small amount of the road tax we pay gets spent on
the roads, the rest is stolen and wasted by other government
departments. There lies the ****ing problem! why on earth anybody
thinks we should have to pay an extra tax to use a new road that
should ALREADY be funded by our road tax I do not know.

Despite the rate of tax being high by international standards, there is
still no agreement on whether or not it covers the full cost
(environmental and social as well as direct) of roads. Three of these
were included in the uk.transport FAQ last time I looked.

FWIW I support the toll in principle, but am unhappy about the deal that
the company that built it got (considering the amount of commercial
freedom they got, the government should've insisted on a better deal)
and am opposed to the exorbitant rate that vans get charged (surely they
don't cause that much more congestion than cars?)


Plenty of people are happy (well- 'uncomplaining' might be a better word)
about the dozens of prior examples of similar 'pay to drive' facilities:

Severn Bridge x2
Humber Bridge
Dartford crossings
Mersey crossings
etc

None of which would have been built by the Government in power at the
times, if private funding had not been around to build them.

Quite right about the private funding bit of building bridges, however I
seem to remember that when the Dartford Crossing was built the toll was
eventually meant to be phased out. That was 2 years ago.
Funny that at the time the gov. done a survey and said that if the tolls
were phased out, more people would use the crossing thereby causing more
hold-ups! I don't suppose for an instant it the fact that the crossing
generates approx. 50 million per annum. And they've obviously never been
there most mornings from 6-8 or afternoons between 2.30-6.
As for complaining, I think everybody has complained at one time or another
regarding the fact that a toll crossing exists in the middle of one of
Britain's busiest motorways.

ITYF it's AT THE END of one of Britain's biggest motorways, rather than
in the middle! Well, both ends actually...

So why should we the general public pay to use
a road that has already paid for from taxes of one kind or another?

The problem is that the Dartford Crossing is no longer enough. More
crossing capacity is needed. IMO retaining the tunnel and hypothecating
the revenue to fund more Thames Estuary bridges, tunnels and ferries is
the best solution.

After all if my costs increase to move goods from AtoB, who do you think I
pass that cost on to?

Probably the buyer, but it depends on other factors (like whether your
competitors have had a similar rise in their costs). However, time is
(usually) money, and often an uncongested road is worth the cost.