Road pricing policy

You may have all seen in the news recently the petition to have the Prime Minister scrap the planned vehicle tracking and road pricing policy, and you may wonder why on a blog for small business I bring it up, well quite simply put, if this government gets its way then this will be yet another tax that the small business will have to endure.

To add your voice to over 1.2 million others who are against it please use the link below and say NO!

Link to E-Petition on Downing Street website.

Tags: Small business, SME, Self Employed, Working for yourself, Road pricing policy, SMB, OMB

5 Responses to “Road pricing policy”

1. M.G.P.Security Ltd
   
   Said on February 12th, 2007 at 9:17 pm

   no more road taxes just an easy way to make more money…..

2. Rich Boakes
   http://boakes.org/million-petition
   
   Said on February 13th, 2007 at 1:07 am

   I am owner/director of a small business that has from inception, used public transport whenever it is a viable alternative to private.

   For many small businesses, a vehicle is a necessity, but for many it is a luxury.

   By not owning vehicles we don’t pay for their depreciation, their road tax, their servicing, cleaning, insurance and fuel.

   In contrast, taxis and trains are remarkably affordable.

   We don’t take up a parking space, we rarely use the roads during peak times and thus we we don’t contribute to the congestion that makes it harder for other business to get from A to B.

   That’s not enough in the long term though, because the number of cars on our roads is increasing, and as a result, journey times for small businesses will increase as a factor of the congestion that goes along with that increased traffic. This is unavoidable.

   For a small business that relies on the roads, signing the “No” petition is a failure to see the bigger picture, that a gridlocked road system is as useful as no road system.

3. Emily Coltman
   http://www.cannonmoorcroft.co.uk
   
   Said on February 13th, 2007 at 12:03 pm

   Rich has a fair point.

   That said, it’s not always possible to use public transport. I live in a small rural village that’s served by 2 buses a day, so there’s no viable alternative to using my car.

   Further to Jason’s point that the road charge would be an “extra tax”, this may be a silly question, but would the tax on petrol be reduced to compensate for the road charge?

   M

4. Jason Holden
   http://www.holdenassociates.co.uk
   
   Said on February 13th, 2007 at 12:18 pm

   Thanks for the comment Rich.

   I agree with you that the number of cars on the road is the issue, but I totally disagree with you regarding the public transport system.

   The public transport system is not reliable; when I worked in Leeds (only 3 years ago) I would spend more time waiting for the constant stream of cancelled trains than riding on one, and then when one did run it was more crowded than the London tube.

   When traveling to London unless you book well in advance (which in business is not always possible) the ticket price from here in the north can be astronomical, it’s far cheap to travel by car, and with disruptions to the service the train takes longer than the car on many occasions, even with a busy road system.

   So, although I agree with the premise that the problem is too many cars on the road, the fact is that public transport is not always affordable, it is not reliable, it is not clean or safe (you only have to read local news to see incidents of assault on trains) and more than anything, it isn’t convenient for many businesses, you are very lucky it works for you Rich.

   But let’s not be under any illusion, this government is not proposing this as a measure to tackle too many cars on the road, just like its token so called ‘Green taxes’, this government is looking to increase what it takes off everyone in both direct and indirect taxation, and that is all this is about.

   If the government wanted to do something serious about the road system it would introduce a pay as you go system, but only after it improved the public transport offerings (instead of rural bus services being cut), if it was serious about its Green credentials then surely it would be investing in renewable energy, wind farms, imposition that all cars be run on LPG etc, so no Rich, I am afraid that in my opinion, this is not about a government trying to tackle any other issue than to swell the treasury coffers.

5. Stephen Harrison
   http://www.thecarparty.org.uk
   
   Said on February 22nd, 2007 at 2:27 pm

   We at The Car Party are vehemently opposed to road pricing and congestion
   charging, increasing the population of this country beyond acceptable levels
   and the ever widening poverty gap between rich and poor are essential
   political failures. Road pricing will see a rise in costs for no benefit,
   people will move home, forcing the low paid into ghettos of high congestion
   and road pricing areas whilst the rich will be able to enjoy the benefits of
   increased unemployment and a lowering of customer services due to being
   served by more cheap and mobile migrant workers.

   Road pricing will bring about the social upheaval that The Friends Of The
   Earth seek and the lower paid and working classes will pay the price for
   academic meddling.

   Re nationalizing the railways to escape the profit motive and allowing more
   parking spaces and free public transport from a publicly owned transport
   system is the way forward.

   1.8 Million people have said No to road pricing it is unacceptable and The
   Car Party has been formed to represent the majority motorist view.

   Perhaps those who advocate such a scheme would prefer a means tested system
   where only those earning say £30,000 plus should be allowed to own a car.

   Should you wish to know more please call me on 01746 862293

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