Controversy over road toll proposals
Motoring groups have expressed deep concern at government plans to extend congestion charges and road tolls to the whole of the UK.
The proposals, put forward by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling, include plans to use satellite technology to track vehicles and impose charges for using the roads.
The charges would be highest for commuters and mothers on school runs. A fifth of cars on the roads at 8:30am are taking children to school.
Opponents to the proposals have denounced them as ‘foolish’ and nothing more than a ‘stealth tax’ on driving, which will hit the middle classes hard.
The Government is already planning to implement a similar road charging scheme for freight vehicles by 2006.
Mr Darling is expected to confirm the Government’s new strategy during a conference tomorrow to an audience of academics and motoring organisations. He insists that pay-as-you-drive schemes are needed as congestion across the country increases and has pledged to cut overall tax bills if the plans are successful.
Charges will be higher at peak times and on busier roads. Mr Darling has stated that the government does not plan to make money from the scheme.
The Transport Secretary claimed: ‘If we don’t do anything we will be faced with a situation where frankly more and more of our roads are simply gummed up.’
He is believed to have been very impressed by the effects of London’s congestion charge on traffic levels in the capital. The charge has reduced traffic jams by 40 per cent.
Last year, the Government abandoned its targets to cut congestion, and predicted traffic jams could increase by up to a fifth by the end of the decade.
