Following the Wrong Road

The latest idea from the government for cutting vehicle congestion and carbon emissions is road charging – taxing drivers on the roads and times that they are driving. Now peakers know better than anybody the necessity to cut down on unnecessary use of the internal combustion engine and I agree that something has to be done. But, in my opinion, this is the wrong route. A far more preferable choice seems to be that of petrol pricing, discouraging driving by increasing the taxes on petrol. Let’s compare the two.

Implementation
It may take up to ten years to get the road charging option in place. In the meantime, road use will keep increasing. By the time road charging is fully operational and having an effect (for it will take time for people to change their habits), it may be fifteen years or more. Fifteen years of mounting congestion.
Fuel pricing is already in effect to some extent and can be implemented almost immediately. We can start having an effect on driving habits from within a year.

Complexity
It is fairly obvious that the road charging option is going to be horrendously complicated. Every road vehicle has to have a GPS system installed to keep track of it. The Government may have to subsidise this as, if it is too expensive, people will avoid it somehow or have to abandon their cars. The latter choice may mean losing their job. A database will have to be set up with all of the major roads in the country so that the Government knows what to charge. Drivers will then have to be sent bills every month or so, unlike the road tax. Somebody will also have to be responsible for following up unpaid bills and dealing with the many disputes that will occur (“I wasn’t on that road, I was on another fifty meters away!”)
Fuel pricing, on the other hand, couldn’t be simpler. I don’t know the details but I assume that the garages or the oil companies presently pay the tax to the Government. Nothing more needs to change. The only extra that would be useful is if fuel meters were fitted on our dashboards like taxis to show you the cost of the petrol you are using. At the moment, you don’t think of the cost until you come to fill the tank up.

Evasion
We can be pretty certain that criminals – the sort of people who don’t pay tax or insurance at the moment – will not go along with the road charging system. So it is the responsible motorist who will pay again.
The fuel pricing system, on the other hand, is very difficult to evade. It isn’t very easy to buy petrol without paying the VAT or duty. You can’t get a spiv to pass you fifty liters of fuel from underneath his coat.
While of the subject of criminals, what happens if your car is stolen? Will you just pay up the charges that the thief has accrued or complain to the police?

Adjustments
One advantage of road charging is that it adjusts, to a certain extent, to different users. Those who live in the country will tend to pay less because the roads are less congested. Townies will pay more but they often have better access to public transport. The disadvantage is that those who need to use a car for work will have to pay the extra charge, often at a higher rate. The Government may have to bring in some sort of tax rebate to prevent those people losing their jobs.
Fuel pricing automatically adjusts for most users. If you have a gas-guzzler, you will automatically use more petrol and pay more tax. If you regularly speed or drive badly, you will use more petrol so pay more tax. One disadvantage of fuel pricing is that it doesn’t take into account rural dwellers or those who need to use their car for work. A system of rebates would need to be put into action; not a difficult action.

Effectiveness
Road charging does not discourage you from using a car, only from using it at certain times and places. So people who get in their car to pop down 100 meters to the shops will probably still do so. Many people will use rat runs to avoid high-charging roads, or leave motorways to go onto ‘A’ roads with the mess that that will entail. I can’t see many companies changing their hours of work to avoid the rush hours so many drivers will simply have to pay the extra costs.
Fuel pricing makes every journey more costly so, if you find your budget is being stretched, you would have to consider every time whether your journey is really necessary. It also encourages car sharing. Because motorway driving is more fuel efficient that other roads, it encourages people to stay on them and not use ‘A’ roads.

Other Uses
Road charging has one extra use that Governments will love – the ability to keep track of every vehicle. This has its good sides, of course, such as tracking stolen vehicles or helping the police find you if you have broken down (although it won’t help in tracking illegal vehicles without the GPS box). But the negative aspect of having every movement tracked is not one that those who revere our hard-won freedoms will like.

The reason, I suspect, why the Government is showing such an interest in road charging is that it gives the impression that they are doing something about congestion without actually doing anything. It will take many years for it to come into effect so, by the time anyone notices that nothing has been done, the present government will have been long gone. Fuel pricing, on the other hand, is very unpopular as has been shown in the past. To be really effective, the cost of petrol would have to be much higher than it is now and that would be political suicide. Like many things, such as nuclear power, the Government is going for the easy option rather than the effective one.