Taxation on Motoring

[Regular.Cyclist]

We lived with one car for the 7 years that we lived in Edinburgh. It was only when we began the process of moving D&G that a second car was required again.

 

[FishFright]

I think a lot depends on individual circumstances. eg living rurally often means very poor public transport and more distance eg supermarkets.

Maybe our society has developed because of the widespread availability of cars to the point where dependence has increased eg would "out-of-town" supermarkets and shopping centres have happened were it not for widespread availability of cars?

Rural areas used to have a thriving community , shops, pubs, public transport and then locals got priced out of the market by people from the cities and all what's left now is very expensive housing.

 

[presta]

Define "long". People will still be driving ICE vehicles for decades to come, no matter what this or any other government does short of making them all illegal, and the political party that is prepared to do that hasn't been formed yet.

You make it sound like mileage tax won't work on ICE cars.

Current projections are that EVs will start to outnumber ICE cars somewhere between 2030 and 2040 in most developed countries.

In Norway, they're well on the way already.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-car-stocks-electric

I agree but tend to distinguish between ownership and use.

That's why I argue that the majority of the tax burden should be on the latter not the former, people are more amenable to leaving the car at home than to getting rid of it altogether. The manufacturing costs are worse for EVs than for ICE though.

We tried to live with 1 car but could not, so we have 2 again.

All it takes to find the alternatives is for the DVLA to take your licence.
When the DVLA had my licence 21 years ago I was hopping mad, but by the time I got it back I'd grown used to managing without the car, and never put it back on the road.

 

[SteveH80]

Rural areas used to have a thriving community , shops, pubs, public transport and then locals got priced out of the market by people from the cities and all what's left now is very expensive housing.

Regrettably true in a lot of cases. I'm lucky enough to live in one of the few villages that is still thriving but there are signs of strain.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Regrettably true in a lot of cases. I'm lucky enough to live in one of the few villages that is still thriving but there are signs of strain.

Yes, my home town is only 30 mins from a city in either direction but there is only 1 bus per day, and if you lived on the outskirts the (1) bus stop is a good 50 mins walk away. They've lost their post office and 2 banks years ago. But...the council/bus companies will say that no-one uses the buses so it's wasted money putting more on. but the people only aren't using the buses because car ownership used to be cheap and there was little need

 

[Dogtrousers]

Visiting my friends in Warwickshire I sometimes get the train to Coventry or Rugby and a bus.

The buses are very infrequent and little used. I'm often the only person on the bus. A weird feeling for a Londoner used to standing room only.

 

[EckyH]

The buses are very infrequent and little used.

The usual commercial thinking is: "Oh, the buses are not as full as we anticipated. We reduce the frequency, so the people will use the remaining options more and it's cheaper for us."
Until the next review of the utilisation, which usually leads to the conclusion: "Oh, the buses are not as full as we anticipated. We reduce the frequency, so the people will use the remaining options more and it's cheaper for us."

The situation in Germany, especially in rural areas, is very similar.

As far as I know the traffic planners in Zurich did it differently decades ago. Their trams and buses were very little used about noon, but the streets were congested with cars at that time. They implemented a system that allows the bus and tram drivers to call green light on traffic lights for their vehicles. That worsened the situation for car drivers. They also shortened headway of buses and trams. The result was: more people uses buses and trams and less cars.

E.

PS: And don't get me started with Deutsche Bahn. You know that something is really bad if people from the UK complain about your railway... 🙈

 

[albion]

Emergency speed limit restrictions are mooted, no doubt for an extremely long time.
On a positive, roads will be well clear when vehicle usage restrictions come, which looks most certain.
Taxation is slow, though that will go through the roof.

 

[Alex321]

Emergency speed limit restrictions are mooted, no doubt for an extremely long time.

Well we still have the ones introduced as a result of a 1970's fuel crisis.

On a positive, roads will be well clear when vehicle usage restrictions come, which looks most certain.

Where on earth are you getting that from?

You say it "looks most certain", while AFAIK it hasn't even been mooted by anybody in a position of power.

Taxation is slow, though that will go through the roof.

Wil it?

Why?

And "slow" for what?

 

[SteveH80]

Yes, my home town is only 30 mins from a city in either direction but there is only 1 bus per day, and if you lived on the outskirts the (1) bus stop is a good 50 mins walk away. They've lost their post office and 2 banks years ago. But...the council/bus companies will say that no-one uses the buses so it's wasted money putting more on. but the people only aren't using the buses because car ownership used to be cheap and there was little need

One bus per day? You lucky ******.... we dream of only one bus per day.... when I was a lad etc etc etc
We too have lost the bank, our shop-that-sold-everything and the cafes come and go. We have a Co-op so they had a chance to get all the village businesses and farm's banking, but the Co-op sold their banking side just as all the banks where closing branches. Foot and shooting springs to mind.
Thankfully both pubs are surviving because either the food is fantastic or we're a bunch of hill dwelling alcoholics *

* Both are true 🙂

 

[albion]

Well we still have the ones introduced as a result of a 1970's fuel crisis.



Where on earth are you getting that from?

You say it "looks most certain", while AFAIK it hasn't even been mooted by anybody in a position of power.



Wil it?

Why?

And "slow" for what?

Well, a mainstream UK newsite is speculating on chaos at the pumps from possibly today. Me, I just went with common sense, some thing easily forecast one day back in November 2024.

 

[Electric_Andy]

How to create chaos at the pumps: Run a headline that there will be chaos at the pumps. How to prevent it: don't go to fill up when you still have 400 miles left in the tank. When you get to the reserve fuel light, go to the pumps early/late when most of the sheeple are driving to the gym to run on a treadmill

 

[Dogtrousers]

Do I need to panic yet? Let me know when it's time

 

[Alex321]

Well, a mainstream UK newsite is speculating on chaos at the pumps from possibly today. Me, I just went with common sense, some thing easily forecast one day back in November 2024.

None of which answers the questions I asked.

We all know there are going to be shortages and queues and big price increases.