Road users paid £2191m Guide for in tax last year
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Tank men • Taxes on British road users reached a new peak in 1972; the staggering sum of £2191m, or about 12.8 per cent of the country's total national revenue. This is revealed in Basic Road Statistics 1973 published this week by the British Road Federation, 26 Manchester Square, London W I M, price 50p.
Road freight, again increased — road vehicles carried 1698m tons out of a total of 1976m tons, and accounted for 51.4 thousand million ton-miles out of a total of 80.6 thousand million ton-miles. Road transport accounted for 90.7 per cent of total freight tonnage, and 78.4 per cent of ton-mileage.
Rail's share of ton-miles fell from 16.4 thousand million to 14.2 thousand million, a fall exaggerated by strikes.
The total number of vehicles on British roads rose from 15.5m to 16.1 m in 1971-2, and the 1.6m goods vehicles registered in 1972 represented a 2 per cent increase. Diesel-powered goods vehicles rose by only 400 in total registrations.