Road charging for all is inevitable
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• The Freight Transport Association says that all drivers will eventually be charged for using the country's roads following the publication of a critical Select Committee report.
In the report Jam TomorrowP, the Transport Committee says that the government's failure to support widespread road tolling will result in a rapid and uncontrollable rise in congestion. Although the haulage industry will be subject to distance charging from 2006, there are currently no plans to extend the scheme to car and van users despite the truck project being seen as a trial run.
A spokesman says: "It is coming for goods vehicles, and it will inevitably come for cars as well. All that's required is joinedup thinking."
The ETA adds: "The report highlights the industry's concern that targets for reduced congestion will not be met by simply implementing Multi Modal Study recommendations."
The report is highly critical of the government's constant ducking of the road charging issue: "The government cannot continue to pretend that investing in infrastructure alone, while allowing car use to rise unchecked, can reduce congestion."