CBI to call for congestion charging
The Confederation of British Industry is to make the case for nationwide congestion charging.
A government steering group on reducing road traffic will hear from the business lobby, that replacing road tax and fuel duty with congestion charging would be a step in the right direction.
Such a move would see the Government aim to shift the £30billion in tax revenues from road tax and fuel duty to charges for using certain roads at certain times.
Congestion charging is already in place in central London, where the Mayor has placed a £5 fee on entering the specified zone. The move has seen congestion in the capital cut significantly, and only applies to certain periods at which congestion is traditionally worst.
The argument in favour of scrapping road tax is that it will mean road users can be charged on the basis of their use of the roads. The same argument can be applied to fuel duty, though high petrol prices have proven unpopular.
More importantly, congestion charging would allow the Government to focus taxes on those times of the day, and areas of towns and cities, where congestion is most severe. As such it is possible that people driving children to school in towns would be expected to pay more than people visiting local shops in rural, un-congested regions.
Michael Roberts of the CBI has explained the policy to the BBC, saying: ‘There has to be a better way of getting a fairer deal – whether you are a business user or just an average motorist.
‘There are some parts of the country where changing your mode of travel is going to be an option. In other parts of the country public transport is not going to provide a decent alternative – but you might see more people changing the time of day they travel.’
The prospect of nationwide congestion charging has been met with some scepticism by the motoring lobby, which has raised concern that individual motorists may lose out while business benefits.
