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Drivers fear toll roads will fleece business motorists

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M6 Tolls: Contactless payment now pioneered for motorists passing through Midlands

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9 February 2015

M6 Tolls: Contactless payment now pioneered for motorists passing through Midlands
The Infrastructure proposed Bill would give the Highways Agency financial targets to hit

MOST business car drivers are worried they will be fleeced by tax gathering plans to spread toll roads throughout the UK roads network, a study has revealed.

According to a survey of members of the Alliance of British Drivers (ABD) has revealed that the issue is the greatest fear among drivers and SME owners.

The Infrastructure Bill, currently being discussed in Parliament, puts road tolls back on the political agenda

Road tolls were overwhelmingly rejected in referenda in Edinburgh and Manchester, the national petition signed by 1.8M people and the recent U-turn on the A14 in Cambridgeshire after public and business pressure.

Yet the Infrastructure Bill, currently being discussed in Parliament, puts road tolls back on the political agenda.

As it stands, the Bill would convert the Highways Agency from a Government agency to a “strategic highways company”, Highways England, with sharp financial targets and the power to implement tolls with the consent of the Secretary of State.

ABD Spokesman Nigel Humphries said: “If the NHS had received similar treatment to the roads network, then patients would be facing the equivalent of decades of underinvestment, crumbling decrepit hospitals, a chronic shortage of beds, with the looming threat of privatisation and a punitive entry charge to every hospital. If this really were the NHS, it would be a national scandal and an election-deciding issue.”

Despite Government claims that it will be increasing investment in England’s roads and has no intention to privatise them or introduce tolls on existing roads, it has declined to put any safeguards in the Bill. Key swathes of roads could be outsourced to tolling companies after the election and families would find themselves much worse off.

Humphries added: “The Government’s much heralded £15Bn road investment represents less then 4 months worth of motoring tax receipts. ‘Motorway Man’ was identified as the key swing voter of 2010, yet drivers still believe they are being treated as ‘Cash Cows’.

If the Government’s intentions are genuine then it has one last opportunity to write binding safeguards against outsourcing and tolling into the Bill.”

For further information on the Infrastructure Bill:

www.fairdealforthemotorist.org.uk/hapcs.htm

 

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