Safe Speed Forums

The campaign for genuine road safety
It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 12:18

All times are UTC [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 6 posts ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 10:19 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 02:17
Posts: 7355
Location: Highlands
Road pricing killed off by Transport Secretary, Lord Adonis
The Telegraph reports ...here
By David Millward, Transport Editor
Published: 10:00PM BST 24 Jun 2009
David Millward, Transport Editor, Telegraph wrote:
Plans to impose pay as you drive charges on every motorist in the country have been killed off by Lord Adonis, the new Transport Secretary.

Road pricing will not be in Labour manifesto.
Road pricing killed off by Lord Adonis Photo: PA

The proposals, which would have seen drivers paying up to £1.30 a mile during the rush hour, will not now be included in the next Labour manifesto.
His decision represents a major volte face by the Government which had once regarded national road pricing as a flagship policy.
The plans had been put on hold following a public outcry which saw 1.8 million people sign a petition on the Downing Street website calling for the idea to be scrapped.
But Lord Adonis has gone further. "We definitely are not proceeding with national road user charging in the next Parliament," he said.
"It will not be in the manifesto for the next election. This is not the time to be putting this before the British people.
"I don't believe as Britain is coming out of recession and motorists are feeling under pressure, that this is the time to put road charging on the agenda."

The anti road pricing petition, drafted by Peter Roberts, a Midlands businessman and backed by the Daily Telegraph, attracted more signatures than any other on the Downing Street website.
Labour's readiness to drop the plans was welcomed by Mr Roberts. "It is great that the government has at last recognised road pricing is an unfair and unjust imposition on motorists, who already pay a fortune in taxes on their cars and petrol, and finally decided to scrap the idea.

"It is just unfortunate it has taken so many expensive national polls, surveys and campaigns before ministers actually listened to people instead of their corporate advisers. Ministers should now stop the ongoing technology trials for road pricing.
"Any further government expenditure on these fatally flawed schemes is a complete waste of taxpayers' money".

Despite ditching national road pricing, the Government is carrying on with a series of technology trials which could pave the way for local pricing schemes.
However Lord Adonis insisted that any council looking to charge motorists for driving would have to prove they had public support to do so.
His decision to drop national road pricing was condemned by Stephen Joseph, executive director of the Campaign for Better Transport.
"I think this is completely unrealistic," he said.
"If road use continues to grow, some means will have to be found to deal with it. If we are not to have old-fashioned Soviet rationing by queues, sooner or later a Government will have to look at pricing."

_________________
Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
PostPosted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 12:01 
Offline
Life Member
Life Member
User avatar

Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 21:17
Posts: 3734
Location: Dorset/Somerset border
In a surprisingly candid interview after returning from lunch, Lord Adonis announced that as Labour had a snowball's chance in hell of winning the next election, they were dropping a monumentally unpopular policy in an attempt to cling on to at least a few safe seats.


Later, aides attributed his remarks to an overly-tight necktie*.



(*with apologies to the Simpsons)


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
PostPosted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 16:07 
Offline
Member
Member

Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2007 19:08
Posts: 3434
Are they really so naive to believe that, after all they have done to ruin this country's road network, that a "promise " of no road charging is suddenly going to put them back in favour with the british motorist....then they can change their minds once re-elected.......yeh right!

_________________
My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
PostPosted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 08:07 
Offline
Member
Member

Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2004 14:04
Posts: 2325
Location: The interweb
graball wrote:
Are they really so naive to believe that, after all they have done to ruin this country's road network, that a "promise " of no road charging is suddenly going to put them back in favour with the british motorist....then they can change their minds once re-elected.......


No, but they need every vote they can get, and don't forget that whichever party gets in power, they don't have to keep any promises they make.


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
PostPosted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 10:26 
Offline
Life Member
Life Member
User avatar

Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 22:02
Posts: 3266
If its not in thier manifesto, and after a statement like the one above it would be VERY hard to introduce during the next 5 years. This is a monumental announcement and a sucess for theanti roiad prticing pettition, the manchester vote. However a huge amount of money has been wasted trying to impose it & trial equiptment, and they now need to find the cash to pay thier share in that huge satalite project.

Labour are very unlikly to get in, will the tories try to introduce it? They are going to be just as cash strapped!

I am somewhat supprised at the timing of this and the education climb down. It suggests that we might have an election sooner rather than later.

_________________
Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
PostPosted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 14:46 
Offline
User

Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2006 04:10
Posts: 3244
They won't be cash strapped for long. Don't forget who removed 47% of the public service payroll over 5 years (many of who worked in front-line services)
Note no "no tax rises" from them yet.
Don't for get who oversaw the massive relocation of complete industries to other countries, in the hope that the "service" industries would fill the gap.
I could go-on for a long time on that theme, but..
No matter what any incoming government wants/says, some sort of road pricing/charging addition is inevitable.
The new campaign will concentrate on how "privacy" is guaranteed and will enhance the arguments about social change in transport (less cars, more pt).
Along are going to come more subsidy for pt, at the expense of private transport (but you can save by using the bus so you'll lose nothing)
Never, ever, underestimate the ability to persuade and change minds of the embedded government (non elected) (civil service).
For a start, I can already see the "we have no alternative, the EU says we have to do it" arguments being prepared (the eu is a rather good organisation to blame for everything)

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/galileo/doc/galileo_application_road.pdf

I can already see a shift coming, towards more "toll" roads, but with drive-through tills where the vehicle does not stop but is just "tagged" as in the route..(similar to the m6 toll) ...a small matter to dramatically increase the number of payment routes...
Also note that a lot of trucks, and many more soon, are tracked using gps with their digital tacho....along with data on the route driven goes data on fuel used, stops, breaks....all tracked and stored....

And the story continues

_________________
The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 6 posts ] 

All times are UTC [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You can post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
[ Time : 0.020s | 15 Queries | GZIP : Off ]