Road Pricing

Interesting to note over at the Devil’s Kitchen, something that went through my mind when I heard the government’s reaction to the million plus signatures on a petition against its proposed road pricing scheme; a comment in the Independent:

With respect to road charging, we should not be unduly swayed by this petition, which seems to be another manifestation of the power of the rejectionist drivers’ lobby.

DK refers to this person as a wanker. He is far too kind. Government exists to serve the electorate. When the electorate points out that it is not happy, then it behoves the government to stop, listen and about change. Okay, so far we are only talking about a million signatures – but given that many petitions struggle to gain a fraction of that figure, it is indicative of something much bigger. Just suppose for instance that all of these people actively refused to cooperate with any pricing scheme? A million of us would simply bring it to a crashing halt. So, to the Independent’s anonymous writer, I would point out that we should, most certainly, be swayed by what is clearly an attestation of public concern.

The government response was typical of what I have come to expect from a bunch of totalitarian control freaks.

The transport secretary has pledged to listen to opponents of the introduction of UK road charging.

Douglas Alexander said he will hear the concerns of more than a million people who signed a petition opposing pay-as-you-drive road charges.

It sounds so reasonable. Until you listen for the sting in the tail:

The government has insisted that doing nothing would lead to a 25% increase in congestion in less than a decade.

In other words; “Fuck you. We’ve allowed you proles to have your say. You are wrong, we are right, so shut up and do as you are told, because nanny knows best.”

Ten years after this corrupt, incompetent government swept to power, transport is still a mess. Don’t talk to me about integrated transport solutions. I have a memory of a night spent on Paddington station to remind me of just what that means in reality. It means arriving at Stansted Airport just in time to catch the last train to Liverpool Street. That train arrives at Liverpool Street just in time to see the station being closed for the night and no underground trains, ’cos Ken doesn’t do 24 hour trains. So it’s a taxi ride across London to spend four hours on a cold platform with nothing open – and I mean nothing; no cafe, no toilets, no waiting room; no-fucking-thing – for the first train headed west. So just don’t fucking tell me that there’s an integrated transport system in this country.

I am well aware of where the blame for this failure lies, it lies with the lying, scheming, self-serving, incompetent fuckwits who came to power in 1997 on a promise of an integrated transport system (among other things). Wasn’t it that fat fuck Prescott who was going to sort it all out? Yes, well, as with just about everything else that prick touches, this one is a mess.

So, damn right, doing nothing is not an option. Fixing public transport may be a start. Providing credible alternatives might be something to think about. After all, without a credible alternative even if taxed to the hilt for using our vehicles, we will still endure the misery of the daily commute so that we may earn the money to pay for the taxes. Do these imbeciles think that Bristol drivers put up with static traffic queues each morning and evening for the bloody fun of it? Does it enter their vacuous heads that we don’t have any choice? We do, after all, have to earn the mortgage and put food on the table. This doesn’t happen by magic – it happens because, despite having other things we might want to be doing with our lives, we have to commute into town and put up with the daily misery that is traffic congestion. Simply taxing us won’t make it go away, it will merely make the misery more expensive. We will still do it and we will still complain about it.

Now, if Bristol City council (and South Gloucestershire for that matter) were to put a light rail system on the path of the old railway line (there would be room alongside the cycle path for pretty much most of it), then I would leave the bike behind and hop on the tram.

Ah, but, that’s far too simple a solution – indeed, the problem is that it is a solution – as opposed to a scheme that raises revenue for the exchequer and spies on our every move.