RAC Foundation: Authorities must justify road pricing
Date: 14 August 2007
The RAC Foundation has called for local authorities to justify road pricing, which greatly affects courier drivers and logistics companies up and down Britain.
With the London low emission zone coming into effect next year, and the prospect of a congestion charging zone in Manchester, road pricing is a hot topic among courier and freight haulage drivers.
Now the RAC Foundation wants local authorities to show that pricing will be used to promote better and safer roads, and not just to line their own pockets and price people off the roads.
The Foundation welcomes the findings of the Select Committee report on the Draft Local Transport Bill, where it called for a full public consultation on the details of any local road pricing scheme.
Motorists, courier firms and haulage companies are all sure to want to make their views known, as these schemes will greatly affect their finances.
However, the Foundation wants to go further, calling for an independent, publicly-funded body to be established in order to oversee local pricing schemes.
RAC Foundation chairman David Holmes said: "Road pricing will only be acceptable to motorists with robust safeguards on fairness of charges, proper rights of appeal, protection of privacy, and an independent body to oversee the schemes. Such an independent body must be in place in advance of any individual local scheme."
The group also found that 80 per cent of drivers want such a body to be set up.
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