‘Poll tax on wheels’ urged to solve traffic jams

Charging motorists by the mile is one idea to ease congestion as UK switches to electric cars, says report

MOTORISTS should be charged by the mile the Government has been urged, amid warnings that the switch to electric vehicles will triple the amount of time we spend stuck in traffic.

There are currently around 100,000 electric cars on Britain’s roads, but that figure is expected to soar to 25 million by 2035. While the switch will help the UK reach its climate change targets, the drop in the cost of driving, as drivers no longer have to pay for fuel, is expected to massively increase congestion.

The move to battery-powered cars will also see the Treasury miss out on an estimated £260billion in fuel duty and vehicle tax over the next 20 years.

Now a report from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, is recommending a shift to road pricing, with motorists charged according to when, where and how far they drive.

Researchers have estimated that by 2040 congestion will be so bad that drivers will spend up to 32 hours a year stuck in traffic, up from an average of nine hours today.

They also predict the loss of revenue for the Government through the sale of petrol and diesel will mean income tax will have to rise by 6p in the pound to make up the shortfall.

The report recommends the Government considers introducing one of four methods of road pricing in order to discourage drivers making needless journeys and to guarantee some revenue.

It is suggested motorists could be charged a flat rate for every mile they travel, with each driver allowed a number of free miles per year. But it warns that such a system would be unlikely to have much of an impact on congestion. Another suggestion is to bring charges based on geography similar to London’s congestion zone or to apply a sliding scale of cost based on how long each journey takes.

The final proposal is to bring in a dynamic road user charging system, similar to Singapore, where higher costs are applied to the most congested routes at the busiest times of day.

The report’s authors go on: “The key common factor with all road-pricing models is that they come with significant design issues and trade-offs, which means that – as things stand – none are politically attractive. The collective challenge we face is to work out how to deal with these challenges, or risk sleepwalking into all the downsides of a ‘do nothing’ scenario.”

But the report also warns that any attempt to change the way car journeys are charged will be “perceived as an attack on motorists”.

It adds: “[The] Government should take action now to signal its direction of travel; that it intends to introduce a form of road pricing in the near future to compensate for the loss of fuel duty; that it will use that opportunity to reduce the external costs of driving, delivering benefits both to motorists and to society at large; and that it will set out proposals on how to do so in the next 12 months.”

The AA said the report’s findings appeared to be based on elements of its Road Miles study, which it had shared with Mr Blair in 2006 when he was in Downing Street.

Edmund King, the president of the AA, said: “This report, although wellintentioned in not wanting to alienate drivers, still falls into the road pricing trap. Even referring to it as road pricing means it is likely to backfire with the public. History has shown that the straight concept of road pricing will never be popular with drivers and is often described as a ‘poll tax on wheels’.”