Satellite Toll Plan to Make Drivers Pay by the Mile

[sintax]

Satellite toll plan to make drivers pay by the mile
Darling orders nationwide road pricing. Charge of £1.34 a mile on busiest roads
By Francis Elliott, Deputy Political Editor

05 June 2005

British motorists face paying a new charge for every mile they drive in a revolutionary scheme to be introduced within two years.

Drivers will pay according to when and how far they travel throughout the country's road network under proposals being developed by the Government.

Alistair Darling, the Secretary of State for Transport, revealed that pilot areas will be selected in just 24 months' time as he made clear his determination to press ahead with a national road pricing scheme.

Each of Britain's 24 million vehicles would be tracked by satellite if a variable "pay-as-you-drive" charge replaces the current road tax.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/transport/story.jsp?story=644303

[sam sarrha]

1. and it will be given over to a CORPORATION to operate for profit

[eleny]

2. So - they can track thousands of individual cars via satellite...

But they couldn't find WMD being spirited out of Iraq?

Btw, the proposed toll and method sounds like a gouging.

[PsyOpsRunsOurCountry]

3. Shit. Total Information Awareness. Big Brother has you in-car-cerated

and knows where you are at all times.

Time to get a new bicycle.

[Itsthetruth]

4. Exactly!

That's the real purpose of the scheme. Has anyone yet proposed forcing U.S. motorists to have GPS on our cars?

The government will know where you have been and where you are now.

This should be setting off alarm bells among civil libertarians in Great Britain and the United States!

[fujiyama]

9. This is the creepiest fuckin thing

I've heard.

Sounds like Britain is one step ahead of us in big brother technology.

[ovidsen]

5. Why not a gasoline surtax?

Higher taxes on gasoline, plus tolls could be used to pay for highway and transit improvements. This would also encourage the use of more fuel efficient vehicles.

This would be lots cheaper than putting transponders in cars and designing and building the hardware and software to track them.

Plus, we wouldn't have to worry about BIG BROTHER tracking us every time we got behind the wheel.

I hope people in Britain reject this satellite tracking idea, and that the US never considers it. Hugely expensive and highly intrusive.

[Journeyman]

10. And how could you contest your monthly bill? . . .

It'd be a classic they say - I say contest, whereas the higher gas tax and tolls you propose would be far more equitable. Guess that'll screw the pooch, though, that an idea makes sense and wouldn't be intrusive. . .

[magellan]

11. 70% of UK petrol price is government tax

Brits are paying the equivalent of $8.00/gallon at the moment. 70% of that is tax meant to be used by the government for road and transport improvements. Needless to say, it doesn't manage to wind up in the right place.

[DrRang]

14. Very gas-guzzler friendly . .

So people are starting to shy away from StoopidUVs and go for energy efficiency, so gas tax revenue is falling, so these geniuses decide to switch from taxing gas burned to taxing miles driven, so there goes one incentive to buy more efficient vehicles.

[BattyDem]

6. I want to be outraged over this, but ...

I have LoJack and EZ-Pass, so I'm already being tracked 24/7 ... and it's my own fault! :evilfrown:

[ovidsen]

7. No LoJack here

And I don't worry too much about EZ Pass. It only tracks me on toll roads, and doesn't use satellites.

I think.x(

[BiggJawn]

8. "OnStar, may I help you?"

How many of us have THAT "godsend" in their car?
"Oh, it's so wonderful!"
Ever wonder just HOW they know where to send the cops when your airbag goes off? And when the insurance company disputes the claim, you get to hear yourself in court saying "Watch THIS" just before the crash...Hey, where they'd get THAT???

and we can already track our kids with GPS "Buffy, you KNOW you're not supposed to be seeing that boy!"

[magellan]

12. Labour have a hell of a nerve doing this

...before they put efficient alternative transport in place. The rail system is still a mess (although it does provide service to much of the country), and local bus services have been cut back in many rural and suburban areas.

My feeling: this is just another stealth tax. People who absolutely need their cars for one thing or another, and there are many, will have no choice and will wind up paying more under this scheme than they already do for their yearly car tax.

[symbolman]

13. I'll keep my 1968

Chevy, thank you very much :) runs great.. back when they made cars that ran for 50 years..

Boulder, Colorado proposed putting little black boxes in EVERY car in that county and charging them for milage, and that was about 5 years ago..

they have the technology for sure.. if they really want you they can just check you credit card gas reciept, figure out what size tank your car has and just hang out and wait for you to show up at your favorite gas station..

man being a creature of habit is exactly how they get ya :)