I thought tolls here were rough...

[Wing Nut]

Britain to consider tolls on all roads

Right now, I pay .80-1.00 per toll booth.  I would go broke...

[Hagar]

The British motorist has always been heavily penalised but owning & using a car is now seen almost as a crime. I agree that something has to be done to ease the crowded roads but I'm not sure this crazy scheme will ever happen or is the right way to go about it. In theory the technology is already available but no government computer scheme has worked properly yet & it will inevitably come in well over-budget, if it ever works at all. Has anyone really thought this out properly or considered how much it will all cost before even one penny is raised in tax? I think these people live in Cloud Cuckoo Land. Again, this will only affect the honest law-abiding motorist & people who find ways round it will pay nothing at all.

I can see at least 2 obvious flaws in this plan. If it costs

[H]

Isn't this the normal procedural response for British Government (not that it's so different for any)? It was my understanding that you had little vans going around to detect television oscillators perchance someone was using one without having paid for the privelege.
If they only tax petrol then they will lose the tax income, which they will immediately continue to expect, when everyone starts not only employing more fuel-efficient vehicles but changing to other forms of fuel. Let the money talk or else you walk... oops, we'll tax that, too!

[Hagar]

Isn't this the normal procedural response for British Government

Indeed. They fall for it every time. The more complicated the scheme, the more they seem to like it.

If they only tax petrol then they will lose the tax income, which they will immediately continue to expect, when everyone starts not only employing more fuel-efficient vehicles but changing to other forms of fuel.

You have a good point there. This proves to me that they're only interested in the increased tax revenue & not in solving the congestion problem.

[ozzy72]

And of course the British motorist pays more than twice as much for petrol (gas) as the American motorist. I was talking with a friend about this last night and there is no way to fit black boxes to every car in the UK, both practically and economically. And it'd be dead easy to make jammers to block the signal.
Hey maybe I could make jammers and make some loot of this...

[H]

I've been involved on the Board of Directors (presently the VP) in a small community (rental lots collectively purchased by the renters from the private owner;  designated a co-operative). To upgrade everything that the original owner hadn't reverted to newer standards, we had to apply for grants & government loans: it's a holy battle -- seems everyone wants to make sure every bit of it is drained (rather an unintentional pun since much is on the sewer system). Who cares that none is left for someone else's needed project; we'll just petition the government for more grant/loan monies (this will, of course, require funding -- by more taxation).
As for the, " And of course the British motorist pays more than twice as much for petrol (gas) as the American motorist," maybe that's because your island country isn't even half the distance across so thay want to even out the cost for going 'from one end of the country to the other' -- that's @ the best I can come up with at the moment.

[Hagar]

And of course the British motorist pays more than twice as much for petrol (gas) as the American motorist.

I just worked it out. If my maths is correct it's over 3 times as much.

[H]

[quote]
I just worked it out. If my maths is correct it's over 3 times as much.

[Craig.]

if we paid no tax at all then yes we would pay less than the US costing roughly $1.75 a gallon. I dont know the current tax rate in the us so add that onto $1.75 and you'll get what we would be paying at us rate.

[commoner]

.......... And it'd be dead easy to make jammers to block the signal.
Hey maybe I could make jammers and make some loot of this...

...lol.....don't just get me excited Oz........... get designing the thing and I'll be your first customer......commoner

[H]

if we paid no tax at all then yes we would pay less than the US costing roughly $1.75 a gallon. I dont know the current tax rate in the us so add that onto $1.75 and you'll get what we would be paying at us rate.

We've just dropped from @$2.50 to @$2.00. In this area it's going into bike week (NH International Speedway) so don't expect it to go lower for a bit.

[Craig.]

and yet i find it hard to find any sympathy for those who think its expensive

[Hagar]

We've just dropped from @$2.50 to @$2.00.

I think the US price includes state tax so the actual gas costs less than the price at the pump. Tax obviously varies from state to state but I imagine the cost before tax is much the same as in the UK.

I just realised from reading the article I linked to that there are 2 separate fuel taxes in the UK, Fuel Duty at whatever the Chancellor cares to set it at + VAT at 17.5%. This means that we are paying tax (VAT) on the Fuel Duty itself.

[Omag 2.0]

Hey... If they go at it the German way you guys won't have to worry for quite some time.

In Germany they introduced a "Maut" ( toll) for trucks and lorries. It involves many gateways wich detect a vehicle passing trough it. However, every truck needs to be equipped with a special receiver/transmitter to make it work. And every truck from a foreign country, travelling in Germany needed one too. The date was set, the trucking-compagnies invested tons of money... and the darn thing didn't work as it should have... the whole deal was prosponed for several times... wich leaded to big trouble for the state, as the structures were build, and no toll was inned...

Hilarious, if you know the German presicion!

[ATI_7500]

It works now, but once again it shows what happens when you let the greens take over the government.