We are forever being told that our roads are so congested that the only to manage this in the longterm is Road Pricing.We already have the CONgestion charge in London,with similar schemes being "looked" at for other major cities.
If our esteemed government is really serious about cutting congestion and not about raking in yet more stealth tax,then I propose the following simple remedy which will cut congestion and emmisions.
Ration Fuel.
All drivers will be allocated fuel vouchers.
UK trucks that carry freight will obviously be allowed more.
This would mean that the small efficient cars would do more miles,as would diesels.
Of course this will never happen because we all know that all measures taken by the government to sort out congestion etc,are just a smokescreen to relieve the motorist of yet more money.
I would like to call their bluff though !
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This might happen in a situation of fuel shortage. In this scenario fuel vouchers vouchers would be preferable to other limitations on motoring because that would get around the problem of better-off people being able to afford rising fuel bills for their Range Rover or whatever, thus depriving others of their fair share of a dwindling resource.
If there are 1000 cakes to go round 100 people there is no problem if a rich, fat man buys 10 and eats them.
If there are 100 cakes to go round 100 people and the rich, fat man buys 10 and eats them, that means that 9 people will have no cakes. This is a case where rationing would be fair.
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I think the government will use road pricing as a stealth tax. Fact we allready have a form of road pricing since the more we drive the more we pay for fuel, so in fact it is based on mileage driven, those driving gas guzzlers pay more in fuel than those of us driving more economical cars.
The congestion charge as currently used is frankly a very blunt and regressive form of taxation, and its a disgrace that its been implimented.
We need a comprehensive overhaul of all forms of motrong and transport related taxation. Rail privatisation has been an expensive joke, thier is more subsidy spent on the systenm than when it was nationalized, and a lot of the subsidy is spoent on running large numbers of private franchised companies. What was the logic of turning state monopolies into private monopolies?
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Another solution would be to have auctions for fuel vouchers.
Vouchers would be for say 25 litres, and every week there would be an e-auction for a specified amount of fuel. Vouchers would be tradeable, so if you didn't get any in an auction there would be a trading facility on the site to buy from those who had an excess. There would be limits on the amounts any one person could buy in each auction, based on the number of vehicles they own.
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I don't see road pricing, based on where you drive and at what time of day, coming in during my lifetime (I am fairly old though!). Blair's boys haven't managed, in the 10 years since Dunblane, to compile a national register of all people who hold a firerams licence or who have applied for one been turned down. I don't know what the numbers that might be but not a lot I'd suggest. How then will this bunch of self-serving wasters manage to track and send bills to 30 million vehicle owners, say quarterly? It can't happen on the basis of existing technology, proposed technology or the wallies who try to implement it IMHO!!!
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Imagine the black market potential,drums of off ration 'pool petrol'dropped off in the dead of night,spivs trading in vouchers and forgers,well,forging.Or would it all be electronic?Safe and secure then.Trouble is capitalism and saving the planet don't mix.
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According to the Sunday papers there is already a huge black market in cheap diesel. Simply find a service station near Dover, ask a few foreign truckers if they want to sell some diesel and more than a few will happily do a good deal on some cheap stuff from Eastern Europe.
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