June 9, 2005
BUCKLE-UP, HYSTERIA AHEAD:
Every British road may soon have its price per mile (Mark Rice-Oxley, 6/09/05, The Christian Science Monitor)
Congestion on British roads has become so bad that government officials are proposing a dramatic measure to stave off what they call "L.A.-style gridlock."Under the plan, drivers would pay for using every single road in the country. Sophisticated satellite and global positioning equipment would track vehicles, charging them according to the route they take.
Busy roads at busy times of day could cost as much as $2 per mile, according to preliminary proposals. Small rural routes would cost just a few cents a mile.
The idea, set to be formally unveiled Thursday in a speech by Transport Minister Alastair Darling, would be unprecedented. Several countries have talked about road pricing, or variable pricing, for decades, but nothing on this scale has ever been considered before.
And despite some grumbling that satellite tracking would breach privacy, it's an idea that may be spreading
Seems less intrusive to just tax the bejeebies out of gas and to charge tolls for entering highways and cities. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 9, 2005 11:56 AM
Didn't OR recently propose something like this for electric cars? Because it's not fair for electric car owners to not pay their share of gas taxes...
Posted by: b at June 9, 2005 1:18 PMUK is already taxing the bejeebies out of gas and is already charging tolls (congestion charges) for downtown London. Now this. You keep talking either/or, you know better.
Posted by: joe shropshire at June 9, 2005 1:47 PMjoe:
No, you just think the taxes are high. They are, by definition, too low.
Posted by: oj at June 9, 2005 1:53 PMOJ, you and I would fall down on our knees and worship allah if we could get UK levels of fuel and vehicle tax in the US. The issues here is that 1.) it is unnecessarily intrusive, and 2.) the UK govt is already impounding far too large share of the GDP. The Tories, should thwey wish to survive must oppose this on both grounds.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at June 9, 2005 2:13 PMI think a lot of taxes are too high, oj. The only tax I'd favor increasing at the moment is the one on Bibles. $1000 a page, ten years in prison if we catch you with an unregistered copy. Ain't this a fun game?
Posted by: joe shropshire at June 9, 2005 2:23 PMjoe:
Exactly. If you're anti-religious you tax religion. If you're anti-driving you tax it.
Posted by: oj at June 9, 2005 3:38 PMAs a cheap alternative, we could arrange to meet in the cow pasture nearest your house and pound each other over the head with 2x4s for an hour or so. It would accomplish exactly the same emotional purpose (for you at least) and would save everyone else a lot of money. What say you?
Posted by: joe shropshire at June 9, 2005 3:48 PMjoe;
Wouldn't a Brothers Judd paintball tournament be so much better?
Posted by: Annoying Old Guy at June 9, 2005 5:10 PMAbsolutely. I'll bring the blue paint and the bearskin shirts.
Posted by: joe shropshire at June 9, 2005 5:55 PMI call first dibs on the refreshment concession.
Posted by: Peter B at June 9, 2005 7:58 PMI drove into Manhattan and back today. Believe me, I would have been an easy sell for very high congestion charges.
Posted by: David Cohen at June 9, 2005 9:32 PMHarry, we know that's you....
Posted by: oj at June 10, 2005 12:22 AM