heard on the news yesterday that the government are thinking of charging us for every mile we drive!!! that's completely and utterly pants!! even more money they are making outta us hard working souls!! ok they are abolishing things like road tax, but thats only £100 odd quid a year, but some roads they are thinking of charging £1 a mile and surely it wouldn not take long to clock up £100 odd worth of charges? its utterly ****e. fair enough it might stop congestion on the roads but with the s.hit public service its no wonder! people dont want to stand in the freezing cold rain waiting half n hour for a bus!! some people might need to make two journeys to get to work! then sit for 2 hours on the stupid stinking bus? and its not exactly cheap! £1.60 for a single??? why would you want to pay that everyday when you already pay for a car so be as well use it?

this country is going down the pan and i want to jump ship!!

Hello kookycat,

I to disagree with this charge and have expressed as much in other threads.
If the government want to see congestion reduced I would have thought it fairer to introduce incentives for people to car share. A reduction in car insurance and road tax for those car sharing.

Also drastic improvements and again reductions in charges for public transport with large firms being offered a tax bonus for having a works bus. Some rural districts need a public service otherwise people won't get into work, hence the reason why countryside dwellers have cars.

Instead I'm afraid I see it as another form of taxation providing revenue to the government, who already collect a hefty amount from the tax levy on petrol and diesel.

If this tax does get brought in, it will affect the whole of the country and good proportion of the electorate. It could well mark the end not just of Tony Blairs reign as PM but the present term in office of the labour party. I don't really think they realise just how many people will find themselves paying hyped up charges out of there earnings.

Also curious about whether commercial vehicles will be exempt for if food and white goods deliveries have to pay than inflation will naturally rise, as the cost will be marked up onto the cost of goods. A catalystic ball of changes would make sweeping changes also to wage levels, as these would have to reflect upon the pockets of those working and not working. Increasing the divide.

Maureen
Northern angel.

Motor vehicle licence duty is partially based on the impact vehicles have on the roads system and the environment. Doesn't it therefore follow that those using the roads more should pay more?

Also, it has been claimed that the actual costs of the side-effects of motoring are much greater than money raised in taxation, in other words motorists are subsidised to the tune of millions of pounds each year. Is this fair, and shouldn't motorists pay for it themselves? One calculation suggests between 1000 and 2000 pounds a year per vehicle is the actual cost.

Hello survivorfan,

Motorists have been paying more over the last twenty years in Britain than many of our European brothers and sisters. Originally it started with the purchase price of your vehicle being levied higher by approximately 20% or more than our European brothers and sisters. The manufacturer and dealer thus end up paying more in corporation tax having greater revenue from the sale of vehicles. It is only in the last two or three years that the purchase price of vehicles has come down to being more competitive with our European neighbours.

If the government is that concerned about the environment it should make a decree or pass an act to render manufacturers guilty of an offence against the environment for not fitting engines that take lead free petrol only, to reduce the amount of harmful CFC's.

Petrol and diesel charges in Britain hold a substantive amount of taxation for the government and you can guarantee that any time these figures start rising that the first people to complain are those who bring goods into Britain. I can't remember exactly what this figure is but it was around 74% of the purchase price at the pumps. The www.rha.com or www.rha.co.uk may be able to clarify things further on this subject. In comparison to the cost of goods exported from Britain and travelling by road the revenue raised from us by our European neighbours is also less. Britain is either the highest or second highest raiser of tax revenue from petrol and diesel.

Local authorities also raise some revenue from the residents of the borough and use a proportion of it for the upkeep of roads. A percentage of car MOT's, Insurance policies, and your tax disc is also utilised in part as revenue for the up keep of the roads on a National basis. The revenue raised amounts to billions of pounds. Some districts will also receive revenue for development from the European development fund for road and motorway improvements.

A budget outline is drawn each year and is spent. Some on large scale administrative bodies distributing funds for roads, the environment etc. These departments are ran at minimal cost the services inaugurated are at maximum cost and if funds are not used the following year will see a reduction in funds provided per area. Ever wondered why roads and motorway lanes are blocked off for months on end? Fund misappropriation. Human resources mismanagement i,e trying to do do much at the same time and then everything becomes a job in progress as opposed to a job completed. Costing and time management mistakes, running out of funds and working with a reduced labour quota. Too many workers having tea breaks.

The motorist is paying enough.

Maureen
Northern angel.

I agree with the earlier point that the government need to have a viable alternative in place before they punish the motorist, eg a rail system where the trains are on time and you can get anywhere pretty quick and easily, and affordable and easilly available taxis or buses.

In the UK, we didn't think twice about getting a car - you need it. So if the government want to price cars off the road, the alternatives need to be there else people will get upset.

Regardez

http://www.survivor-online.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=5346&highlight=mile

My views haven't changed :nerd:

I agree that the government have to sort the public transport system out - trains cost a fortune now and still aren't quick enough; coaches are not really a viable alternative unless you want to travel overnight (I'd rather drive during the day most of the time!); buses and taxis are either full, late, slow.....

I don't mind paying a bit more if I drive lots during the year, but nothing like what they're proposing!

And I'd guess that the government will have some form of exemption for their own transport - or at least it won't come out of their pockets so John Prescott will still be able to demand a car to go 100 metres!

I abstian (sic)

Working in the railway provision industry I have a very strong opinion


Use it - Don't abuse it. It is like not voting and then critisising the encombant government.

I hear so many people abuse Ford (this is an example) when the Focus breaks down or they blame the AA/RAC for being too long in coming to their rescue

Question is....

did they invest in dealer servicing (for which there is a recompence)
did they invest in minimum servicing without full breakdown insurance
they voted with their feet....?



Many things contribute to the real reason for complaining.

I resent the taxes I am expected to pay to have a vehicle. Hence I am about tio do without.

I'm not a righteous person so willnot begrudge those who within reason wish to "maintain a car".....

I use public transport extensively and find it on the whole VERY satisfactory

My righteous position does allow me to convey the opinion that Mr Presfat is a Non Technical User of Computers and as such I would rather do as I do in the EU and pay a toll, without subsidising Mr Browns coffers and have visibility of my indirect taxes

VAT, Income Tax, Tolls....these I understand !! Stealth tax I resent and work against. Show me that 75% of my petrol pound goes into roads nad I might better accept it.

Were you out with Groucho tonight then? :laugh:

Fair enough.

My main "complaint" about trains is not really concerned with the timetable most companies say they will provide, it's what actually happens! Unfortunately, I've spent far too much time on trains that are delayed for no apparant reason!

I have a problem with the amount of money we pay to the government for using a car - both in car tax and in fuel.
I do not have a problem with a toll system - in fact, I use the M6 toll rather than not because it's generally less crowded and therefore a more pleasant drive (if motorway driving can be called pleasant!). What I have a problem with is £1 or so per mile!

I used to live on the edge of Bristol, and it was 20 miles to work. I couldn't afford to live any nearer the centre, and I had to drive to work. Going by bus or train took well over an hour, more if there were delays. This was simply due to where my flatmate and I lived. So I would have been paying £200 per week just to get to work! I couldn't have afforded that!

If the government do go ahead with £1-ish a mile, they are going to put people out of jobs. It's getting harder for first-time buyers to break into the market as it is, and they often have to live further from their work because they cannot afford to live closer. Yet, maybe they can't afford to do that either if they have to budget for a few hundred pounds a month to get to work!!!!

Government would do better to promote schemes like car sharing, 2+ lanes on roads (Bristol ring road has had one for years!), etc.

Ok, I'll stop being quite so serious now, but having been brought up in London and seen people with 4 cars per household, and driving unnecessarily big cars just to go half a mile......... it bugs me!

Mary

Trams in city centres?

Maybe.....

I object, on the purely selfish reasons that roughly twice a year I drive a 1300 mile round trip to my parents and I don't want to pay for it... it's a hideous drive and I don't like doing it but needs must and I dread to think how much the torture that this journey already is would cost me if I had to pay per mile!

That's pretty much my only reason for objecting, that and it seems a bit Big Brothery for people to monitor how many miles I drive and where etc...