ABD says ‘no’ to road pricing

In the midst of party conference season, members of drivers lobby group The Alliance of British Drivers have reaffirmed their hostility to ‘Pay per mile’ road pricing following its re-appearance on the political radar.

In a recent survey of its members 85 per cent said they were opposed to road pricing under any circumstances.

Peter Roberts, author of the 2007 Downing Street petition when 1.8million people signed against road pricing said: “Drivers have drawn a line in the sand over road pricing and we should not have to re-fight this battle. Have politicians such short memories when road pricing and tolls were so comprehensively rejected such a short time ago? Road pricing will add significantly to the cost of living for working families when their budgets are already stretched.”

Over 87 per cent of respondents also disagreed with the policy of road tolls on new strategic road capacity. Legislation enabling this type of road tolling is contained within the ‘Infrastructure Bill’, currently going through Parliament.

Over 80 per cent of respondents agreed with the statement: HS2 high speed rail should be scrapped and part of the money used to upgrade and expand the motorway network”?

ABD spokesman Sean Corker said: “The car represents the gold standard for mobility. Its flexibility creates opportunity and improves families’ quality of life. This is why the vast majority choose the car rather than other compromised modes of transport. Road tolls work by pricing the poorest off the road whilst making the rest pay more for mobility.”

He continued “Drivers currently pay £58bn in motoring taxes with less than 16 per cent spent on our crumbling road infrastructure. There is no guarantee that road tolls will mean investment in our road network and no basis for trust that any future Government or commercial vested interest currently pushing road pricing, would not exploit the revenue raising possibilities of ‘pay per mile’ to the hilt”