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Ifs, ands and buts
Page 9
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A lot of ifs, buts and maybes, but so far that's about all you can say about the Government's plans for road tolls. First there's "if'. If HGV road charging (due to start in 2006) is successful, then it will be extended to cars. And why not? With 26 million private cars in Britain and only 410,200 goods vehicles you don't need Lord Birt to work out who's causing the congestion. What we can't understand is why the government is not tolling cars first. Or is it too cynical to suggest that the voting power of car owners far exceeds those of hauliers? Then there's the "but". According to a recent RAC survey, 71% of motorists would accept tolls on existing major routes—but only if they were guaranteed to find less congestion. Some hope! If the quickest way to get from London to Leeds is via the MI or the Ai, do politicians really think people will use alternative non-tolled routes? In the same survey an even higher proportion declared they'd back tolls if there were an equivalent reduction in road tax or fuel duty. But only a double whammy of tolls and high road and fuel tax will ever persuade car drivers to use the train. So where does that leave hauliers? Finally we come to "maybe". Maybe, someday, someone will understand that unlike the majority of car
drivers dogging up our roads, truck operators come under the banner of "essential users".
But to be honest, we wouldn't put money on it.