Road pricing bill before Commons

[sasguru]

All this talk when there's a simple and fair solution. All car journeys in cities should be priced on an individual basis (and I don't mean the cost of petrol). The problem with the existing system is that once you have paid your up-front costs (tax, insurance etc) the price of petrol is still not sufficient to deter you from extra, useless journeys.
The exception to this would be people living in the countryside who actually can't live without a car.
I strongly believe that car owners in cities should pay for the damage they cause. It is clear that unless you are disabled, it is perfectly possible to live in London without a car. And it would help the obesity problem if some of the lardasses took a walk now and then.

HTH.

[dang65]

All this talk when there's a simple and fair solution. All car journeys in cities should be priced on an individual basis (and I don't mean the cost of petrol). The problem with the existing system is that once you have paid your up-front costs (tax, insurance etc) the price of petrol is still not sufficient to deter you from extra, useless journeys.

Ooh no, that's not going to be popular. Brace yourself.

The exception to this would be people living in the countryside who actually can't live without a car.

Eh? Can't live, you say? How did this countryside living thing work for the 15 million years before cars were invented then?

I strongly believe that car owners in cities should pay for the damage they cause. It is clear that unless you are disabled, it is perfectly possible to live in London without a car. And it would help the obesity problem if some of the lardasses took a walk now and then.

B...but then people would have to mix w...with the proles. And they could get mugged. Have you not thought this through at all?

[Buffoon]

It is clear that unless you are disabled, it is perfectly possible to live in London without a car. And it would help the obesity problem if some of the lardasses took a walk now and then.

I live in London, don’t have a car and walk a lot. I’m still a lard arse and many say my personal emissions are bad for the environment too.

[sasguru]

I live in London, don’t have a car and walk a lot. I’m still a lard arse and many say my personal emissions are bad for the environment too.

Just say no to the pies.

[BoredBloke]

From Dang

"On the other hand, we only have a car at all because it's so much more convenient for her to transport our four children to all their different schools and activities. "

Hang on a second - you have been banging on about us being to lazy to use public transport yet at the same time you leave the car so your wife can add to that very same congestion by running your little darlings to school. Why do they not use public transport? That strikes me of a great deal of hypocrisy.

[threaded]

If you're all so concerned about congestion in the cities why not knock down loads off houses and offices and build new roads?

Two problems sorted: less people wanting to go to those places, as they've been knocked down, and more room for the remainder to drive their cars to wherever it is they want to go.

I really don't see where people are having the problem with this. It ain't rocket science: just build more roads!

[Churchill]

If you're all so concerned about congestion in the cities why not knock down loads off houses and offices and build new roads?

Two problems sorted: less people wanting to go to those places, as they've been knocked down, and more room for the remainder to drive their cars to wherever it is they want to go.

I really don't see where people are having the problem with this. It ain't rocket science: just build more roads!

We can't afford to build more roads.

The kitty is empty and the cat is out of the bag.

[dang65]

From Dang

"On the other hand, we only have a car at all because it's so much more convenient for her to transport our four children to all their different schools and activities. "

Hang on a second - you have been banging on about us being to lazy to use public transport yet at the same time you leave the car so your wife can add to that very same congestion by running your little darlings to school. Why do they not use public transport? That strikes me of a great deal of hypocrisy.

You've got some kind of weird tunnel vision when it comes to my posts haven't you? I've repeated over and over that I do own a car, that I drive it to work occasionally, that my partner uses it to ferry four children to endless activities. The thing is I know that this is a luxury which I have to pay for and which I am not paying anything like enough for at the moment.

That's the whole point of this thread. Road charging is being introduced to make people pay more for the congestion they are causing, and a lot of people are objecting to it and claiming it's unfair or an infringement of their rights or that it will destroy society somehow. As it happens, my partner's runs back and forth between football, swimming, school, cub scouts, friends' parties, after school activities and other events are unlikely to be covered by road charging because the routes she uses aren't congested. Maybe the same applies to you in Rochdale, I dunno.

The roads I would use to get to work, at the time I travel to work, clearly are congested and have been in most places I've worked over the last 20 years. So I've always used a bicycle or public transport. That's my choice, and using your car is your choice. Just don't claim it's unfair for you to be charged a lot of money for having chosen the convenient option.

[fzbucks]

You've got some kind of weird tunnel vision when it comes to my posts haven't you? I've repeated over and over that I do own a car, that I drive it to work occasionally, that my partner uses it to ferry four children to endless activities. The thing is I know that this is a luxury which I have to pay for and which I am not paying anything like enough for at the moment.

[/i]

If you want to feel better about not paying enough to run your car you can always send me some money and I'll plant some trees for you

[dang65]

If you want to feel better about not paying enough to run your car you can always send me some money and I'll plant some trees for you

If you can just explain to me how planting trees reduces road congestion then I'd be happy to consider the offer, thanks.