Legal Brief
Road Pricing is no Answer Says RHA
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"Such a tax on journeys would be full of problems. It would be intrusive, complex and hugely expensive. At best, the congestion benefit would be marginal," said RHA Chief Executive Roger King.
The RHA has serious doubts as to whether a national journey tax is practicable. This view is based on the experience of lorry road user charging, which was promised only for the project to be abandoned after four years and £40m spent on consultants' fees.
"We need to change the debate", he continued. "Far simpler options are available for tackling congestion, such as: changes in the hours of employment - local and central government could give a lead here; and greater home working.
“Investment must be made to increase trunk road and motorway capacity, to meet existing demand for efficient and reliable transport, with or without a charging system. And at a more modest level, we are frustrated at the lack of progress in making relatively minor infrastructure improvements at bottlenecks.”
"Let's talk about reducing the burden of congestion, not about how to introduce a complex, unproven new journey tax," says Roger King.
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Having logged on and signed the petition (and I hope all of you did so also) I then became aware that the only information I had was that contained in the Petition proposal. Having done a little research into it, the plan became more became apparent. What a relief!
The "vehicle" to be employed for the deployment of the said "snooper" system is said to be the ill conceived Gallileo competitor to the current GPS system. Allready running dramatically late the Gallileo system is now projected to be implemented in 2015, and as everybodies experience of Goverment (never mind EU) computer programs and technology introduction has been there are severe doubts that it will hit either the pricings projected or timescales.
Annoying as it may be, a burgeoning over budget of the project will undoubtedly be written off aginst the slush fund of the ECU, (damn mine and yours money). But what will throw a far greater shadow will be the Technology required to detect,collect, collate, charge and receive the monies involved. Insiders at the Gallileo project involved in its faltering development are not convinced the expertise exists in the EU to take it to the required level, never mind the required funding to put the "hardware" in place.
Contemplation of the proposed Road charging project and discussions with my favourite "muse" brings up the much favoured "frighten them" and they'll accept the lesser of two evils ploy. It is possible that the spectre of the expense and intrusion of Road Pricing has been flown to make the alternatives more acceptable.
Which policies are the ones yet to be endorsed by the Goverment? Keep your eyes open for a low profile much "easier on the eye" proposal maybe allready mentioned on passing during the last 12 months, any offers?