Push towards pay-as-you-go roads
The government is pushing ahead with plans to introduce road pricing schemes in England and Wales despite a huge public campaign against them.

It has published a draft bill updating the rules for local authorities who want to set up charging trials.

It insists there are no plans yet for a national scheme but critics say it is not being open about its intentions.

A petition against road pricing on the Downing Street website received nearly two million online signatories.

Widespread road pricing is at least 10 years away technically – but 10 local authorities have expressed an interest in developing smaller-scale charging systems in their areas, which could be up and running within five years.

‘No decision’

The draft Local Transport Bill will give councils more flexibility to match road pricing schemes to local conditions, while ensuring they remain compatible with schemes in other areas.

KEY POINTS OF DRAFT BILL
Update existing powers so councils can propose local road pricing schemes
Any scheme expected to be part of anti-congestion plan and to fit in with those run elsewhere
Councils to bring in “quality contracts” to specify companies’ bus routes, timetables and fares
Reform passenger transport authorities in major towns outside London to enable a “more coherent” approach

But a Department for Transport spokesman said this did not mean the government was pressing ahead with a national pay-as-you-drive scheme.

“No decision has been made on a national scheme. We have got to see the results of the pilot schemes,” he said.

He said there would be a three-month consultation period for those in favour and against road pricing to have their say before a final bill is drawn up.

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BBQ

And so, as many people have told you, including me, these petitions are nothing more than simple steam valves to allow the weak minded to let off steam. The murderers Bliar and Brown do not care about what you think, on any level. They use these phoney tricks to lull you into a false sense of participating in democracy. It is a sham and lie like everything else about them.

Now, The Prime Minister in Waiting has a chance to differentiate himself from Bliar:

Gordon Brown, BACK DOWN!

Cancel this universally unwanted road pricing scheme and DEMONSTRATE that you are different from your War Criminal cohort.

My emphases in the nested blockquote above; if these mini schemes ‘to fit in with those run elsewhere’ it means that when there are many of them, you can join them all up into a gigantic system, by which time there will be a de-facto national system.

Very smart, very sneaky.

It also means data-sharing across all of them obviously.

Bad Mojo!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007 at 4:22 pm and is filed under Politricks, Told You So.