The Greater London Authority have published a report on road user charging (or “pay per mile” as it is known), after a public consultation. They got over 3,000 responses to the consultation which is unusually high and you can read the report from the Transport Committee here: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-03/Future%20Road%20User%20Charging%20in%20London%20report.pdf
The Committee emphasised the need for a simple system if a road user charging scheme was implemented. This committee was chaired by Sian Berry (Green Party) so the result is not surprising but the Conservatives submitted a minority report.,
You can read all the consultation responses by going to the bottom of this page: https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/london-assembly-work/london-assembly-publications/road-user-charging-london . There is clearly an enormous amount of opposition to any road charging scheme in London.
We did submit a response to the consultation which can be read here: https://www.freedomfordrivers.org/_files/ugd/8ec181_718f6a0e18ae4c26a3e4a353b5f70a44.pdf .
The Conservative Party have said this in response to the report: “OUR VIEW ON PAY PER MILE: We want to be very clear: The City Hall Conservatives do not support – and will never support – any London Mayor introducing a pay per mile system as an additional tax on Londoners. Sadiq Khan seems to be exploring ever more creative ways to squeeze money out of Londoners, and it’s time to put a stop to it. Implementing Pay Per Mile would be unfair to those who rely on their cars, unfair to those who spent thousands upgrading their vehicles specifically to comply with the ULEZ, and unfair on the pockets of every Londoner”.
That’s probably the view of many Londoners and shows how the Conservatives are gearing up to win the popular vote in outer London.
Roger Lawson
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London
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