Downing Street Says » Road Pricing

Asked to comment on the story in today’s Times that Councils were complaining that access to money to fund transport projects would only be given if linked to road pricing, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that without commenting on the story, what we had said all along was that we were going to carry out 10 pilot schemes, and discussions about those were ongoing. It was important to keep stressing that these pilots schemes were precisely to work out what was possible in tackling congestion, how we go about it, and to learn from the experience. This was not a one step to a national road pricing scheme. Doing nothing was not an option. If we did nothing, the figures showed that there would be a 25% increase in congestion by 2010, a 30% increase in congestion by 2015, and a 40% increase by 2025. People needed to recognise that doing nothing was not an option.

Asked how journalists would be able to access the Prime Minister’s response to the road pricing petition, the PMOS set out the technical process. With any large response to a petition such as this, the response would go out in batches. So it would take some time, possibly a few days, and not everybody would get the response at exactly the same moment, as technically this was not possible. What we would try to do was begin the process of releasing the reply to people before it was given to the media. So at least some of those who petitioned would get the reply first. We would then inform the media, through the normal ways. But all of those who signed the e-petition would get a reply by email from the Prime Minister. We wanted to make an effort to get a reply to those who organised the petition first.

13 Comments »

Road tolls are nothink more than a rip off. labuor party has done nothink for England apart from tax us to Death.
Comment by Derek Mills — 20 Feb 2007 on 2:28 pm | Link
What a surprise! The government, abusing a system which is not yet even in place ("pilot schemes" only…) – and then lying about it!

Doing nothing might not be an option – but artificially CREATING that congestion in the first place (taking half the road away for hardly-used "bus lanes", re-phasing traffic signals) in order to justify wringing more cash out of people also is not an option. There are tons of ideas to improve congestion, but all this government is interested in is taxing the British people, that is the be-all and end-all of this and every other British government, dictated to as they are by the privately-owned Bank of England.

"Get a reply out to those who organised the petition". What kind of reply? Threats? Don’t bet against it; this is a government that lied it’s way to war – they have so far been directly responsible for the MURDER of over half a million people. So don’t think for one minute they’d shy away from ANYTHING, literally ANYTHING, in order to get their way without looking like the criminals they are.
Comment by SmokeNMirrors — 20 Feb 2007 on 2:33 pm | Link
I support road charging: the only way to ensure comparability between driving and public transport is to stop the former being free at the point of entry. Even better would be to supplement this by scrapping the road licence and adding the cost to the price of petrol.
Comment by Alex G — 20 Feb 2007 on 4:14 pm | Link
i feel that with a road charge you will need more vechile on the road to cover the country deliveries,this would be againts the goverments global warming. not only we have a very ramned bus service in cornwall and we also need the tourism
Comment by Roger Moore — 20 Feb 2007 on 6:22 pm | Link
Just another stealth tax, from a vulnerable
group–motorists.
Comment by A>Wilcock — 20 Feb 2007 on 6:53 pm | Link
Bottom line prime minister, this will be the revolt that brings down new labour. who is waiting to stab you in the back ?
You have closed down schools and hospitals and now we are to be taxed on trying to get to the nearest. Maybe you should consider closing our borders, all we see on the road is LT & P plates, and thats just to provide cheap labour for the CBI who run the country !
Comment by Steven Harrison — 20 Feb 2007 on 8:45 pm | Link
Bottom line prime minister, this will be the revolt that brings down new labour. who is waiting to stab you in the back ?
You have closed down schools and hospitals and now we are to be taxed on trying to get to the nearest. Maybe you should consider closing our borders, all we see on the road is LT & P plates, and thats just to provide cheap labour for the CBI who run the country !
Comment by Steven Harrison — 20 Feb 2007 on 8:46 pm | Link
I thing its a disgrace that we now have to pay even more over the odd to drive our cars on British Roods.. This is another way to rasing money..Tax Tan And More Tax or just Governments damn lies……………

Please scrap the white/ pink or the green papers
Thank You
Comment by D Bose — 20 Feb 2007 on 10:15 pm | Link
Road pricing will just be another tax. Local services such as hospitals and police stations are being centralised, forcing us to travel further which goes against the policy of protecting the environment by travelling less. How much of the current road tax and fuel duty goes back into the roads, very little I would guess?
Comment by Mike Beetlestone — 20 Feb 2007 on 10:21 pm | Link
I totally object to road prcing if the car tax is not superceeded by it

why cant the government not address the issue by introducing flexible scool times,trucks and large goods vehicals shoud operate in non peek times,public transport should be cheaper and better for example. Remember the fuel protests ignore the majority and we will have this mess back on our roads.
Comment by brendan hayes — 20 Feb 2007 on 10:26 pm | Link
What a joke, put in place your public services before you take my car away. Time has moved on to much for me to own a horse, but maybe this is the only way i’ll be able to get to work?
We all know that we have to think of the big picture but lets look at hybrid cars or completely electric cars. This is surley the way forward not to stop us from living the lives we have become accustomed too.
Comment by Stephen Wood — 20 Feb 2007 on 10:29 pm | Link
People do not drive on congested roads because it is cheap to do so….
Comment by Andy Davies — 21 Feb 2007 on 9:38 am | Link
My husband regularly travels hundreds of miles before he starts working fitting smoking shelters for which he gets paid \xA3130.00 less tax. If this road charging is bought in he will be out of pocket before he even leaves the house so will have to give up his job and sign on. He has always worked and claimed no benefits. What a joke!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by wendy Slipper — 22 Feb 2007 on 4:28 pm | Link

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» Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Road Pricing

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