(discussion moved from another thread)
Graeme wrote:
PeterE wrote:
Graeme wrote:
PeterE wrote:
In practice I would expect many people would use a prepayment system (akin to PAYG mobiles) and those paying monthly bills would normally do so via direct debit with an electronic statement, so I think this is a bit of a red herring really.
There has to be a bill so the users can check the cost (otherwise it's a pure tax & not a deterrent). No doubt some would opt for electronic - but they have to have the capability of sending out paper bills.
In practice (and we are talking at least ten years off here) I believe many, perhaps most, people would opt for a prepayment method where, so long as there was a display in the vehicle of how much had been spent and was remaining, they would get sufficient information. Nobody gets a bill with a PAYG mobile, yet many people happily spend more on them than they probably would on road pricing. It might even be possible to download your charging details directly from your black box.
If we are to have an environmental argument, the big one is that if you replace part of fuel duty with a flat-rate tax, it gives people more incentive to drive less economical cars. Even if the road charging is banded in the same way as VED, it doesn't reflect the fuel economy of individual vehicles anywhere near as precisely, and gives no reward for more economical driving styles.
No argument - and it really doesn't matter if it's in there or not, but it's an interesting debate!
Personally I would want to know exactly what I was being charged for - and I'd want to be able to see at the end of the month why my bill cost what it did. It's certainly going to be a lot more than a �5 top up card, and rather more essential than mobile credit.
If you step back and look at the reasons for it, supposedly it's to make us travel at "cheap" times. If we pre-pay or just see the direct debit going out each month, it becomes a pure tax with no incentive to improve. The Government should want to actively push the cost in front of us to make us take action?
Although figures of �1.34 a mile have been bandied about, let us assume the average figure is more like 7p per mile, which is approximately the current cost of fuel duty.
If someone does 100 miles a week, at the average price, and normally does roughly the same journeys, then as long as they're paying around �7 a week they won't be bothered. Prepayment may suit them and make budgeting easier.
On the other hand, if you're doing 500 miles a week, on a variety of different roads, and ofter driving in rush hours, then undoubtedly you would want an itemised bill.
It's all about what suits the individual. Some people find contract mobiles suit them, others prefer PAYG.
Also I would expect charging rates would be widely available on the web, as if the scheme is to have a deterrent effect then it would be important for people to be able to estimate journey costs in advance.
Ah! but peterE, you're forgetting! Coupled with this is: as you yourself mentioned........the "itemised" bill! A track on YOUR individual movements...
Your mistress, your visit to B&Q in your Company hack, maybe you left home 15 minutes late this morning? or got home 15 minutes early? Your speed can be calculated, your route, etc, etc, etc,etc.......need I go on?
Sounds like 1984 to me...........and who is all this information to be available to?.....
If the aim is simply to tax useage...............then why not use the existing "fuel tax"...... Why do we need a multi-million pound computer system which needs to track individual movements when a simple "fuel tax" does the same job?
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