Road Pricing System Poll
A new poll around a new road pricing system has shown a mixed reaction.
The potential road charge system would see drivers charged for how many miles they travel.
The scheme would track how far each driver is travelling and charge them based on that. This scheme would replace the current road tax.
The snap poll from Fleet News saw mixed reviews for the system across drivers.
What did the poll say?
55% of fleet decision-makers said they agreed with this style of road charge. But 1 in 5 (40%) fleets said they didn’t feel it was a good decision. 5% of fleets polled said they felt undecided on the matter. When looking at the data across all drivers, these figures stayed roughly the same.
- 39% said they wouldn’t back a pay-as-you-drive scheme
- 19% said they felt undecided on the issue
- 42% said they would support such a scheme
Why is this needed?
This proposed scheme aims to tackle the issue of increasing electric vehicle (EV) uptake. Although the Government is encouraging many drivers to switch to electric vehicles, it does leave a hole in tax revenue.
A report from the Transport Committee said that the conversion to EVs could see a loss in tax of between £28 to £35 billion by 2050. This estimate doesn’t include vehicle excise duty (VED) which could see further losses of £7bn.
One suggested system would see telematics used to track the usage of a vehicle.
It could also factor in the type of vehicle and the time of day when calculating the charge.
Comment
Dr Gavin Bailey, sustainable transport lead at Eunomia Research and Consulting suggested that the Government look at implementing a sustainable scheme as soon as possible.
He said:
“There are many forms that such a scheme could take, from simply charging road users by overall distance travelled to ‘dynamic’ road pricing.”
Dr Bailey also suggested that this could have great environmental benefits. A scheme that charges drives per mile could encourage more people to use public transport on other forms of transport.
“For road user charging to be a truly progressive environmental policy, the price incentive must be there to get people out of cars and into public transport and active modes of travel. Without it, it would likely turn into a missed opportunity.”
How can we help?
Our telematics solutions gives you access to all the data needed to make sure your fleet is on track. The live tracking feature allows you to see where the location of your fleet vehicles and how they are being driven.
Road Pricing System Poll