AA has suggested pay per mile after 3000 miles each year

[ivykaty44]

To reduce short trips by car

I think this would make people think about car usage & only use when needed, say school run & work. But then opt for shopping home delivery and other trips by bus, walking or bike

Countryside would get more mileage free

What do others think? Would it help reduce pollution and encourage parents not to pick up secondary children from school etc?

Crazy idea. I live rural and do about 6,000 a year not doing much at all. It was a lot more (double) when the children were at school. Perhaps it should apply exclusively to city dwellers where there is adequate public transport and access to plenty of taxis and it really is possible to manage without a car of your own

Surely it all depends how it is implemented, to if it is fair or not.

As people have already said something is needed to replace petrol / diesel duty.

Also insurance works exactly the same way - you can get cheaper insurance if you don't drive as far - although admittedly it doesn't make a huge difference.

@DGRossetti

I was thinking only the other day that parking fees should be proportional to value of you car. 20p x hours x value of car (in £1000s) something like that!

As well as making routes easier for cyclists, it needs a decent infrastructure of dedicated cycle routes built.
Did you know that HS2 was supposed to have a long distance cycle path along side that got scrapped?

Most of the cycle routes in the big town near me do this: marked route alongside pavement, move onto pavement, give way to side roads, back onto road to go under narrow bridge, back off road to cross busy side road etc. As a cyclist I cannot be bothered with stop start all the way, and don't talk to me about the ones that come out round parking places on a bend, nightmare of doors opening!

It needs a bit of forethought and creating paths that take cyclists away from the car routes, even if it means creating flyovers or underpasses for cyclists. I believe Milton Keynes was built with this in mind.

I spoke to a local council a few years ago, before the building of new estates surrounding the town and pointed out their SANG areas could accommodate a dedicated cycle route around the outskirts of the town, all they'd need to do was add cycle crossings and link to other, older SANGS and hey presto a northern & eastern cycle by-pass. Likewise close a winding, dangerous road to traffic where it narrows under a bridge add a few cycle crossings and that could become a link from the SANG cycle route to the train station, making an appealing route from the new housing estates. Meaning you could head out by bike from your home on the estate to the SANG area beyond, turn right or left to get to various industrial/employment areas, and turn off towards the town centre & railway station, on a route that was almost totally car free other than the very first and very last bits.
Sadly not yet done but I think they're contemplating it.

would work well in London. Places with an hourly weekdays only bus to a limited destination - not so well.

I do 4000 a year without commuting and with always thinking about whether I actually need to drive.

I was thinking only the other day that parking fees should be proportional to value of you car. 20p x hours x value of car (in £1000s) something like that!

The problem with that approach, is it breaks the traditional model that the poor subsidize the rich. Which we can't be having.

You'll be suggesting big companies pay more tax next and then where would we be.

My workplace brought a representative from the train and bus company (they are all under one company where I live) to our workplace to advise on how we could take public transport to work. In my case it would involve leaving my house at around 2pm the day before I need to be at work, travelling in the opposite direction from my workplace just to then travel back again, and paying for this extra journey that I don't actually want to make, plus spending a night sleeping on a bench at the station.

If I could afford to live somewhere that I could get public transport to work and ditch my car I wouldn't hesitate. But I'm priced out of those areas.

The sale of new petrol/diesel cars will be prohibited, not continuing to run old ones. Dh's car is a classic, and was first registered in 1968 I think. Cars can and do, go on for a long time if cared for. Until the infrastructure is in place to charge cars, if electric, or refuel them, if hydrogen, then it just won't happen. There needs to be enough energy supply to charge all these cars, and it isn't there.

Did you know that HS2 was supposed to have a long distance cycle path along side that got scrapped?

I'm going to hazard a guess that the cycle path was what got the winning bid over the finish line, and it was suddenly found to be "impractical" at that price and removed. With the added indignity that I still don't think we need (or ever needed) HS2. And certainly won't need it in 15 years time when it's supposed to be ready (yeah, right).

There needs to be enough energy supply to charge all these cars, and it isn't there.

And never will be, because England doesn't do infrastructure. The idea is to leave it to the market.

We still haven't quite learned how someone with a street mounted charging point manages to bag on-street parking on a public road over anyone else. Or are we going to see public roads carved out with bays dedicated to the facing house. Thus overturning the order of public roads that's existed since Domesday ?

(Well our house comes with dedicated on street parking, since we've got a charging point ... added £20K to the asking price).

I live rurally, our public transport is basically none existent. There has been no bus service at all during lock down. Even in normal times we are lucky to get one bus an hour, and this stops at 6pm. There are no buses on Sunday's.
To get to my parents who live over 100 miles from me it would mean multiple changes of buses and trains.
My son has hospital appointments, we couldn't get there by public transport from where we live, so would be stuffed.

This is only going to work for people who live in cities with excellent public transport. People like me in villages and small towns tend to be forgotten when things like this are thought up.

This is only going to work for people who live in cities with excellent public transport. People like me in villages and small towns tend to be forgotten when things like this are thought up.

The problem is a simple numbers game. More people live in cities that rurally, and we know how democracy works these days ... 51 is bigger than 49, so suck it up. (Or find a political answer that doesn't).

It would cripple me. I'm a carer and can do over 700 miles a month.

This thread has made me look at my local car club again (an advantage of living in a city - obv this isn't an option for most).

The journeys I make with the car are:

• weekly big shop
• a couple of times a week to drop off at activities that are at times when I have a tight turnaround from getting in from work
• To visit my parents who live an hour away by car (total journey time c3hrs by public transport and cost c£90 for a family of 4 if you want an overnight)
• Occasional days out, shopping trips to out of town places

A shared car scheme makes a lot of sense for someone like me, and if we had provision for bike storage (I live in a flat on an upper floor and we just don't have room for 4 bikes) then it would be even better.

It just feels like there are better ways to encourage those that can give up short journeys to do so, while not affecting those that don't have a choice - a mileage tax would seem to not affect the former while penalising the latter.

I'd be screwed, I live and work rurally and there are no buses to get me the 22 miles to work for 7.45. Mr Beacham (sp?) removed all the train lines

Beeching His axe was widespread!

Well considering I drive a lot for a job and do upwards of 40k miles a year, I do get the train when I can. However it's not always possible, and my hobby takes me around the country. If electric cars had longer range and there were more plug in points then I would consider one for my next vehicle.

But with the state of my local public transport I would be forced to use my car for those shorter journeys still.

thegcatsmother

I was surprised when my relatives in the north east reduced there electric bill by over 50% by getting solar

Then you look at how cars can race across Australia without fossil fuel and a solar panel in the roof

At some point cars will be self fueling for all we know

I think I’ll get a motor scooter 🛵 it’ll be free mileage and easier to park

all these posters describing their long commute that is only possible by car - the point of such policies is to make the choices that you have been able to make, and your employers have been able to make, less feasible. your employers shouldn't be able to pay such low wages for a job they want doing that the person who does the job can't afford to live anywhere nearby - that option shouldn't be open to them. either they need to invest in affordable nearby housing or, if the business doesn't have to be located there, they could relocate the business. or they could just pay more so that their employees can afford the local cost of living. these things don't just get introduced for next Thursday. if the policy is made official then it will be with years of notice giving everyone time to plan - do you seek a new job near your home? does your company realise it will have a recruitment crisis on its hands and do something about it? does the demand for affordable housing mean that new building projects get approved?
200 years ago pretty much no one had a job and a home that were greater than walking distance apart. as a society we have chosen to build a culture which is reliant on people burning gallons of fossil fuel every day which will eventually run out. we can, as a society, make the choice to reform what is considered reasonable and acceptable by making the choices which are harmful to the greater good be less affordable and at the same time make the choices that are better for the greater good become more affordable.

Hmm I do 6000 miles a year ish. Including 2 UK holidays.
I could probably cut maybe 500 by shopping on the way home from work the rest is pretty much essential. But as I drive a hybrid could I negotiate a double allowance as I am not putting out any emissions on electric?

Not to mention that actually people may change behaviour away from public transport and into cars.

Stupid idea. 3000 miles per year/58 per week/8 per day. Also special dispensation for the countryside will be outweighed by the cost of rural fuel stations.
The only people this will hurt financially are the people who are reliant on their cars or the people who cannot afford to upgrade their cars for greener credentials.
I walk further in a week than I drive in a month so keeping my mileage down and fitness up but for anyone who needs to transport work/shopping/child related baggage the option to walk or use most public transport is unrealistic.
I already have limited mileage insurance policys on my cars and 3000 miles is the average I still manage to rack up on my old shopping/dog banger which gets used once, maybe twice a week.
The wear and tear on this car is also horrific due to lack of use.

@Packamack

It would be great for rural communities. Rural communities are blighted by excessive, unnecessary car journeys. As are all communities, to be fair.

I’m not sure I agree with this. My first impression is that it would hit the elderly. Many of my friends travel miles to take relatives shopping, take them to hospital appointments and have a cup of tea etc. Many of us unpaid carers already struggle with the fuel cost and would not be able to visit as often if there was another mileage penalty.

It is simply not possible to get from house A to house B in some areas without a car. It’s not that the public transport is poor, it just doesn’t exist.

I do however agree that something needs to be done to reduce fossil fuel emissions. I just think that in rural communities as they stand at the moment a push towards electric vehicles might be a more realistic aim.

i would LOVE to be able to use public transport, and not have to drive places, but its simply not available, and what is there, isnt reliable

It doesnt just disproportionately target rural communities.

It also targets poorer areas that are reliant on commuting for jobs. Places like south Wales Valleys, where there are few jobs compared to people. People with jobs will move closer to the cities, taking money out of the area leading to even less jobs.

So its basically poor, rural communities that will suffer most.

I commute 25 miles a day, takes me about 35/45 minutes. Its an hour and a half on public transport, and thats if I dont miss the 5 minute bus connection. Plus it costs significantly more money. If public transport was useable, maybe people would use it? Its just a thought

I have just roughly calculated our annual ‘caring’ mileage for one elderly (90) grandparent and one elderly (88) aunt. 5,200 miles per year for shopping and medical appointments alone. Absolutely no way of doing either via public transport. That’s just our mileage, we are lucky enough to have other relatives also helping. Both relatives are unable to leave the house without assistance.