Road pricing killed off by Transport Secretary, Lord Adonis – Telegraph

Plans to impose pay as you drive charges on every motorist in the country have been killed off by Lord Adonis, the new Transport Secretary.

The proposals, which would have seen drivers paying up to £1.30 a mile during the rush hour, will not now be included in the next Labour manifesto.

His decision represents a major volte face by the Government which had once regarded national road pricing as a flagship policy.

via Road pricing killed off by Transport Secretary, Lord Adonis – Telegraph.

Back to the drawing board for road pricing

It looks as if it is time to pronounce the last rites for pay as you drive charging.

Good. We are already taxed according to the efficiency of our cars and the distance we drive them through fuel duty. Thankfully, we may now escape being tracked wherever we go.

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Update: But it appears New Labour have little interest in what people want:

The crushing rejection of a congestion charging scheme by voters in Manchester has failed to halt the Government’s determination to press ahead with technology trials for national road pricing.

Within hours of the referendum results being declared, the Department for Transport said it would press ahead with development of the costly series of studies which would underpin a pay-as-you-drive scheme, which could see motorists paying up to £1.30 a mile to drive in the rush hour.

Insurer stops ‘pay as you drive’

Another surveillance scheme, and a precursor to the Government’s road pricing proposals, dies.

In practice, people don’t like to be tracked, even if it saves them money. What a surprise.

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