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?

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?

I think that's good in theory, but realistically I don't think it would work like that. If I could have a job closer to home of course I'd have it, because who wants to waste hours every week commuting. The jobs aren't there, they don't exist, no matter how much notice I would have to look for a new one. I've been in the workplace for over 20 years and have never found a job that was accessible solely by public transport. And my employer won't have a recruitment crisis because employment prospects aren't that great in my part of the UK so even in times of low unemployment, employers always have a huge choice of applicants. I think when people live in areas with a huge choice of different employers they underestimate how difficult it is to change jobs in areas where jobs are more limited.

Also yes what about people caring for elderly family members?

Basically this policy will hit the people who already arent getting enough help.

Urban dwellers fine. Rurally I have to drive everywhere as our bus service is chronic. So penalise those living in cheaper places because they can't afford to live in towns. Nope. Not fair.

I live in the Highlands my closest city is 110 miles one way roughly. And the train takes an additional 2 hours compared to driving (4 hours total). And there's only 3 trains a day.

How is this fair. You need people to come to these areas to work chucking in an additional charge because of our lack of transport options is unfair. Create a train line that means I can get to the city faster than driving and maybe I'd see the point.

This absolutely screws anyone who lives outside of a city with a good public transport system.

I have relatives who live rurally. The bus goes twice a day - once out of the village and once back again. The bus stop is a 3 mile walk along an unlit country national speed limit road with no pavement. There is no train service in that area - no stations or local tracks.

A car is an absolute necessity for them. They would have to pay for driving more than 57 miles per week (which is what 3000 p.a. averages out to). The nearest 'big' supermarket is 20 miles away. The hospital is 15 miles away. They also like to go and visit their grandchildren, who are 30 miles away. Not all of these places are in the same vicinity as each other.

I'm only 6 miles from my city centre. It costs £10 return on the bus and takes an hour each way. If I drive it takes 20 minutes each way, and costs about a fiver in fuel and parking.

It's very easy for those who live in big cities to think that this is a good idea - especially in London where public transport is plentiful and subsidised.

3000 miles isn't a lot, my car was brand new last year & hasn't been used since 12 March, it has only been driven locally but has done 1100 miles.

But then opt for shopping home delivery and other trips by bus, walking or bike

Our village doesn't have a bus, the nearest shop is 3 miles away and I've never ridden a bike and it's pretty risky on these country roads anyway especially if you get on a bike for the first time aged over 60.

Realistically most people on here seem to agree that it's an unfair idea. We need cars, we just need them to be made to work environmentally and at a sensible cost. No idea how or when that's going to happen though!

Pah! 😂 I would be screwed by month 3!

My daily commute is 60 miles! Living rurally, it's just normal for people to have longer commutes...and no, public transport is definitely not an option...my nearest train station is 6 miles away and doesn't have trains that would take me direct.

I've just googled, and to use public transport to get to my work by 7am I'd have to travel the evening before, as there isn't any that would get me there by 7am 😂

What are the AA thinking? 🤦‍♀️

So many people had to change due to the Covid19 and work from home, get food delivered and I think things like this are probably coming out now as the timing is there to say - well you made changes during civid19 so continue.

Time will tell but the government is going to lose revenue from fuel tax and duty, fossil fuel is a tax on a tax and those in power are going to be looking at ways of regaining that revenue. They think it will actually be cheaper but raise more money - not sure how that works. Possibly because other fuel will be far cheaper and the cost of 1p per mile is character than fuel duty per mile now

If they want to eliminate short journeys and get people on public transport there needs to be more joined up thinking.

I can take a bus, tram or train into the nearest city but they're all separate tickets so you can't mix and match without paying double. We're half an hour from the tram stop which would be less than 10 mins by bike but no folding bikes on the tram and not safe to leave even locked up at the tram stop. Meanwhile they provide free parking for people to drive 5 mins to the tram stop.

I hah to do fifty miles a day on the school run, rural living, no bus.

I just calculated I do 5470 ish miles a year. If I if i only went on one holiday I could cut that to 4570, If i got online shopping/ went on way home from work I could cut it to 4070.
That is the most I can cut , I am lucky to live walking distance from all my family. 3000 is unrealistic for most people I think.

@Packamack

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

Seriously? It would be disastrous for rural communities like ours. There is no regular public transport. My nearest Asda is a 70 mile round trip, for eg. I also commute 70 miles a day to work. It would not be possible for me to work without a car - there is no bus service from my village to my work.

Do you actually live in a rural community? I can't imagine anyone who does so making a statement like this.

If they want to eliminate short journeys and get people on public transport there needs to be more joined up thinking

I think that's a really good point.

I would also add more needs to be done to ensure children get into their catchment primary school. This has been a massive issue for a number of years around here.

Then get rural transport to a similar level to city/town options. Dh does 60 miles a day to work and back. Public transport options would make his already long day ridiculous. To visit our inlaws by public transport would take us an overnight trip even though it's just over an hour by car due to the extremely limited bus timetable. To get to my SiL (6 hour car journey) would take a bus trip, 2 train journeys and another 2 buses. It would no longer be feasible to go for a weekend.

Home delivery shopping does not work for me. Every time I've tried it we have had ridiculous substitutions or missing items and whilst we do have excellent farm shops locally, they obviously don't carry everything.

I can't ride a bike. Dh can but with 2 damaged knees from skiing, he can hardly do 60 miles a day. Ignoring the fact that it's all dual carriageway.

How about a system based on location. People living in cities like London pay from mile 1, with the amount of mileage you get free increasing as you move further and further away from viable public transport.

My dh drives miles for business, quite often a 500 mile trip a day.
He'd go out of business.
Many people need to drive because they don't work anywhere near train stations, or it isn't practical.

Duckfinger So 1070 miles over at a 1p cost per mile would cost you £107 so £2 per week

Poorer people generally live further away from work, their child's school and train stations so it punishes them more than the rich.
There would have to be so many exceptions to make this fair- disability, age, number of people in the car (if you drive with 4 passengers you shouldn't be penalised in the same way as someone who drives solo) , location (nearest supermarket could be 19 miles away rather than the 0.5 miles that I travel in the suburbs

Completely ridiculous.

I wonder how many of the people who think this is a great idea for rural communities, actually live in them?

I grew up in one. We had the local corner shop which was more of a kiosk - which sold fags, newspapers, milk and bread. Anything over and above that had to come from the supermarket, which was 33 miles away.

Incidentally that was also the distance of the nearest train station. The bus stop was in the village - which was a 5 mile walk on unlit country roads with no pavement - from our house. Buses went four times a day with no service at all on a Sunday or a Bank Holiday.

Opting for home food delivery does not solve the problem of needing to get to the hospital. Or wanting to visit friends or family. Or wanting to do some shopping. The relatives I posted about earlier are in their 80s and one is a wheelchair user. Good luck with cycling, eh?

Absolutely ridiculous idea (and I’m a low user). If I was an AA customer for I’d be asking why they’re paying idiots to come up with this sort of nonsense.

Sounds ok to me.

I think it's wrong that so many cars now pay no road tax. They are still using the roads! So should pay, at least something!

@Oblomov20 and what about the impact to the many people who have already posted on this thread?

And FYI road maintenance is paid for via council tax - so everyone pays that regardless of whether they drive or not. Car tax (VED) is a tax on owning a car, and is tied towards its emissions - which is why certain cars pay little or no VED.