Yeah, after the Times article, Safe Speed issued the following PR at 10:43 this morning:
PR445: Arrogance and ignorance at DfT plans to price the poor off the roads
news: for immediate release
As the anti-roads pricing petition turns one million, The Times reports
Transport Minister Alexander saying that he knows best and the public will be
ignored.
Paul Smith, founder of the Safe Speed road safety campaign
(
www.safespeed.org.uk) said: "Mr Alexander's arrogance is only matched by his
ignorance. The congestion and road pricing projections on which he purports to
rely are laughably incomplete and hopelessly ill-conceived."
"In particular, they ignore the fact that congestion costs time and time is
money. They tell us that 'congestion costs business £20 billion pounds a year'
- if that's not a congestion charge - I don't know what is. Businesses manage
scare resources and if they can cut costs they do. And they have. Many have
already moved for better road connections - an effect that has created business
parks, retail parks and the M4 corridor."
"If they set road prices at a level high enough to reduce congestion, even by a
tiny bit they will have priced the poor off the roads. It's ironic that a
Labour government would back such a proposal."
"Anyway the primary journey choice regulator is travel time. If they reduce
congestion by pricing the poor off the roads the rich will find that they have
time to travel and rebalance the system restoring congestion levels."
"I find it incredibly difficult to believe that the government believes it's
own words on roads pricing, and I am reminded about Blair selling us the war in
Iraq long after he'd done a deal to support Bush. Who has done the deal this
time? Is the barking mad road pricing plan based on an EU funny handshake?"
<ends>
Shame the headline got corrupted (by my brain) before I hit send.