When governments say that they want to reduce congestion everyone agrees, but disagree violently on how to do it.
Some want more and wider roads. This upsets the environmental lobby as it encourages more cars to use the now clearer roads (and usually just causes worse problems somewhere else on the system).
Some want greater restrictions on driving, such as road pricing, which makes drivers pay for the roads they use according to the time of day and level of congestion. This was simply hinted at in 2007 and caused nearly two million to sign a petition opposing a policy that was yet to be proposed by any party.
A compromise that might be more acceptable is to charge tolls on new roads. Most people seem to back the idea of not raising taxes further and so this is the only way to build new roads.
But is this an integrated transport policy? A series of tolled and non-tolled roads might not work at all. Drivers may cram on to the non-tolled roads to avoid the charge causing even worse congestion in areas not designed for heavy traffic.
The M6 toll road (the Birmingham Northern Relief Road) is a case in point. Opened in 2004 the latest figures show it carrying just 39,000 vehicles a day, almost half the predicted 74,000 a day when it was planned. The rest continue to battle each other for space on the congested M6 to the south.
Toll roads may be a convenient way of avoiding the problems of fiscal policy faced by the UK at present, but it lacks the broader and deeper thinking required to meet the challenge of the 21st Century.
This is an interesting article and it really highlights one of the key downfalls of politics in general, there inability to make decisions. It is a shame that we live and go by a system that so limits our ability for great change that we hinder are progress both in physical structure and social demographics and systems. No one will ever be completely happy with how things are going and if they are it is most unfortunate for the population. Nietzsche's ideas go as far as I have heard on the subject of explaining how this is and by what it is changed. But I believe the downfall of our political system is unlikely changed without a great deal of unrest for a great deal of time. As of yet I also offer no great and formulated alternative and my ideas on the matter are to arduous to read for the blog I feel.
ReplyDeletePoliticians cant be blamed, in this instance, for their inability to make decisions. It is an impossible decision to make if every time you put an idea forward, 2 million people oppose it before a policy has even been proposed. There will always be a limit to our ability for great changed, as defined by our finite resources. There is no real option for expanding our infrastructure without causing great unrest, because it costs money, and no matter how small an amount, every person who either pays taxes or uses that road will have to pay a visibly larger amount for it, despite the benefits they may receive. This decision has no outcome that makes everyone happy so time spent making it will be beneficial rather than being rushed into it because people criticise politicians 'inability to make decisions'
DeleteCould the government set policies on increasing the price of lending / buying vehicles in order to construct better transportation and infrastructure? Perhaps increase the proportion of tax when people buying cars?
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