The Guardian
Quote:
Protests grow over Blair's plans for national road pricing
Juliette Jowit, transport editor
Sunday December 17, 2006
The Observer
More than 40,000 people have joined a growing internet protest against government plans to introduce a national system of road pricing to cut congestion. By Friday 44,000 opponents had signed a petition posted by a campaigner on the Prime Minister's official website, dwarfing others logged on it.
The Downing Street site set up an online service for the public to send petitions to Tony Blair last month. The huge response to the road-pricing 'e-petition' in less than four weeks will raise fears that the government's most important transport policy could be scrapped if politicians believe opposition is too great. This follows closely behind a report from the Institute for Public Policy Research think-tank, which warned that less than 40 per cent of people supported road pricing.
Last week a survey by Admiral Insurance showed that only one in four people supported wider road pricing. Ministers will also be alarmed at the growing furore in web chatrooms and blogs, where objectors are threatening to disconnect tracking equipment if they are forced to install it in their cars.
Despite the plaudits heaped on the London congestion charge after it was introduced in 2003, Durham is the only other city to introduce a scheme. Plans in Edinburgh, Bristol and Nottingham have been dropped, largely due to fears of public opposition.
Last night supporters of the charges - which two weeks ago were backed by the government's transport adviser, Sir Rod Eddington - warned that the government needed to move fast to convince the public. 'All the opinion polls show the public is not buying this concept,' said Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, which in principle supports road pricing. 'Trying to sell road pricing is like trying to sell additional taxes - it's not easy.'
The Association of British Drivers, which is opposed to road pricing, warned that opposition was going to grow. 'We'll see a major rebellion,' said Nigel Humphries, an association official. 'It really is the poll tax on wheels.'
The petition was set up by Peter Roberts, a salesman from Worcestershire who recently joined the ABD. Roberts was angered by the calculation that, at the most expensive rate suggested - £1.50 a mile - it would cost him more than £200 to visit relatives in Berkshire.
The lowest suggested rate of 2p per mile would cost him less than £6, but Roberts believes he is likely to end up paying between £50 and £60 on top of his petrol costs. He believes word of his petition was spread largely thanks to an email he sent out to 25 people being forwarded to thousands of others.
'The government [is] claiming to be democratic and this online petition is a form of public democracy,' he said. 'If they look at this and say it's meaningless, it makes a mockery of the government's democratic credentials.'
If the scheme is introduced, supporters and critics have called for an independent body to oversee the money collected and make sure it is spent on road improvements. The RAC Foundation also said government should start with a voluntary charging scheme tied to benefits such as lower car insurance and petrol duty, and should change the name from 'road pricing' to something more positive, possibly UK DriveTime.
The Department for Transport said public opinion was one reason it intended to try out road pricing by beginning with regional schemes, including one in the West Midlands. 'We want to make sure the public are on board every step of the way,' said a spokesman.
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