The AA has branded plans to force motorists to pay up to £1000 a year to park at work as a “poll tax on wheels”.
The ‘workplace parking levy’, already in force in Nottingham and reportedly being considered by at least 10 councils, is part of the Government’s plan to reduce congestion and local pollution while raising finances to improve public transport.
AA president Edmund King claims that the charges, set to affect businesses with more than 10 parking spaces, would almost certainly be passed on to workers.
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Edinburgh and Glasgow councils have confirmed they plan to go ahead with the charges, while the plan is under consultation in Oxford, Bristol, Cambridge, Reading and a number of London boroughs. Hounslow Council in West London has proposed a charge of between £500 and £1000 a year per parking space owned or leased by a company.
Nottingham city council has claimed that, since the charges were introduced, it has become the only large city in England to see traffic reductions on A-roads during the morning rush-hour. However, it’s been criticised as a charge that will harm the poorest and make commutes even more difficult for a significant portion of the public.
AA president Edmund King said: “The AA accepts that cities are under pressure to cut congestion and pollution. But this ‘poll tax on wheels’ discriminates against employees who are older and less mobile, pregnant women, the low paid and parents who combined a trip to work with school runs."
The scheme is being considered at an individual council level, and is not something forced down to them via the Department for Transport. It is reported that no proposals have been submitted since the Nottingham plan, introduced in 2012.
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Doesnt surprise me!
I work in Harlow and commute from just inside the M25, there is NO way of me getting to Harlow by public transport, well thats a lie, there is, but i would have to go into Liverpool Street, CENTRAL LONDON, to then get a train out, it would take the best part of 2 hours, and then, once i get to Harlow there arent ANY busses that run from the station to my place of work, so would need to get 2 busses, and guess what, those 2 busses arent in sync so i would have to wait a further 20 minutes for my second bus, so a journey that should take 30-45 minutes would take over 2 and a half hours using public transport! Joke! Typical moronic decision by people in power, its a stealth tax and we should ALL make a stand against it! The Yellow Jacket protest in France will be in the UK soon if they dont stop absolutely spanking normal people who have NO choice BUT to use a car to get to work! I am one of the lucky ones too where i live in the South where a half decent public transport system is in operation, i dread to think what it is like for people who live in Cornwall, Devon, Yorkshire, the Highlands etc where they dont have a public transport system like we do in London, they have even less options than i do!
Population
This attempt by councils to have a "feel good" attempt at reducing congestion with another "car Tax",as many contributors have said is impossible.Public transport will never catch up with the population growth in London and large regional cities.
By the time the new tube lines are completed the projected people movement targets will be well and truly been surpassed.
I could go on forever but the real elephant in the room is population.There is no easy fix,as many cities around the world will attest.There are major cities which the majority of people will gravitate to because of jobs,infrastructure,medical,schools and transport etc that regional centres cannot provide to meet ever increasing numbers.Cars are only a small piece of the jigsaw.
Political suicide
The motorist is already paying road tax, fuel duty, VAT on fuel duty, BIK etc, etc. No one is going to stand for this, outside city centre locations, where most people take public transport anyway. It would really be a further attack on mobility in a very tight job market. I really can't see this one working.