'Pay as you drive' scheme could be doomed

Complaining is just as important to most British motorists as it is to drive itself. UK motorists have a long history when it comes to complaining about the state of affairs on the UK's roads. It seems that we're either peeved about pot holes or sickened by speeding on a daily basis, but often the main cause of anger is aimed at where our road tax payments actually go to.

Now, it seems that drivers could soon be able to find out quite how the millions they collectively cough up in road tax is put to use, with new proposals seemingly leaving little room for complaints.

After dropping plans for a national road charging scheme, the Transport Select Committee has now come up with the idea of trying out a 'pay as you drive' initiative, which would see motorists charged according to how long they are on the road for.

Such a scheme would replace a flat rate of fuel tax, as well as make Vehicle Excise Duty redundant, with a similar initiative in Holland having been highlighted by the committee's chair, the MP Louise Ellman, as the possible future of British transport policy.

Notably, the cross-party group of MPs believes that such a policy will help bring to an end motorists' long-standing mistrust of central government by making charges more transparent.

However, as well as the feasibility of rolling out a national, or even several regional charging schemes in this mould, sceptics have already argued that even this will do little to make drivers believe that their money was being put to good use and helping to improve road quality or even offsetting the environmental impact of the nation's motor cars rather than being used elsewhere.

Peter Roberts, chief executive of the Drivers' Alliance, argued: "Drivers have shown time and again a clear rejection of 'pay-as-you-go' motoring and it is pure folly for this report to suggest we spend billions of pounds of taxpayers' money on building the charging infrastructure and then ask for volunteers to become guinea-pigs in a road pricing experiment.

"What a dangerous risk to public finances."

However, it also seems that drivers can't even vote their way around such plans, with David Cameron having now suggested that, should they come to power, the Conservatives would look to introduce pay tolls on newly-built roads.

In a bid to cut down on public spending, Mr Cameron confirmed that he is giving serious though to what would effectively be a network of new toll roads across the country, with the Birmingham Relief Road - or M6 Toll - being cited as an example of such a scheme helping to ease congestion, boost the Treasury coffers, and allow drivers to enjoy a smooth ride for relatively little extra.

But, given that such proposals have also attracted criticism, it seems that no one political party will be able to satisfy motorists, who either want value for money, or world-class roads without having to pay for them, depending from which way the situation is viewed.