- Why the UK needs a new policy environment to realise the hybrid dream by
- Politics & Energy | 9:27 a.m. | Thu 13 Dec 2007
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If hybrids and other, cleaner, types of vehicle are to proliferate, the UK needs a new road policy environment, and "whole-system solution" to transport.
In a hybrid future, road-user charging will be the norm. This will almost certainly have an element of congestion-charging, to discourage peak-time journeys, and it will probably have a distance-charge element to it as well. There is nothing new about this in the UK; we had turnpike roads in the early 1700s. The only difference will be the way in which the charge is levied.
Public transport will also have changed. Integrated timetabling will be the norm, as will through-ticketing (the billing of multiple and multi-modal transport providers for single journeys using integrated systems). The deregulated free-for-all will be over. Whether the services are provided through the public or private sector is not really relevant. What will be different is how the performance will be measured. Services will have to integrate their timetables with other providers, both within and across modes. Suppliers will be required to have common ticketing, possibly through an advanced integrated mass-transit payment system such as London’s "Oyster Card".
The final policy change will be a common form of carbon charge for transport. All modes will be charged for their carbon content on an equitable basis – very different from today where the aviation and maritime tax regime is completely different to that of road transport. It is also likely that this will be charged on the full life-cycle carbon cost, so that construction, maintenance and operational carbon will be included in the calculations.
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I reject road-charging on a number of levels. First, it's double taxation, secondly it penalises people who live rurally and thirdly it fails to make the connection between the size of cars and their carbon output. The absurdity of many single occupant commuters, many in 'mid scale' executive saloons is that they are transporting 80Kg of human in a quarter of a ton of steel. What we need is more cars, not less! Light cars with small carbon-efficient engines we use around town (if we use them at all) and larger cars for longer journeys (which are not served by adequate/cheap public transport). Road charging would be then for motorway type journeys and car tax would be emission related.
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