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CS5 opening (picture credit TfL).jpgTransport for London considered charging cyclists for road use
Transport for London (TfL) considered charging cyclists to use the city’s roads and infrastructure such as the city’s Cycle Superhighways, but decided against it.
Although charging cyclists an access fee was later decided against, TfL’s head of strategic planning, Lucinda Turner, is quoted by BikeBiz editor, Carlton Reid, admitting during a think tank meeting yesterday that it had been on the table.
Turner added the role cycling plays in transporting a growing population on a finite and crowded road network is an important one. Previously she has highlighted the pressure TfL is under to become self-reliant as the capital sees a net population increase of 10,000 people per month.
Bikes make up one sixth of Central London traffic, says TfL
Reid quotes Turner as saying: “We have been thinking about cyclists paying an access charge for use of the networks, but it’s not something we have plans to do”.
She adds initiatives such as the Santander Cycles hire scheme and Cycle Superhighways will help keep London moving. The capital is spending almost a billion pounds over ten years on its cycling programme, including Cycle Superhighways, Mini Hollands and Quietways.
Turner added: “Things would have been a lot worse if we hadn’t made those sort of changes.”
Cyclists aren't alone in being considered for roads charging in London, however: earlier this month Boris Johnson asked TfL to lobby government to devolve Vehicle Excise Duty to the capital to "ensure revenue is reinvested in the capital's roads".
However, Reid wrote in his article, all road users aren't created equal. He said: “Unlike motorists who are responsible for hidden, sunk economic costs to other travellers and wider society, such as air and noise pollution – the so-called ‘negative externalities’ – cyclists are responsible for ‘positive externalities’ such as zero pollution and public health benefits.
"And it’s for reasons such as these, and the need to encourage cycling as a way of moving more people in the congested, busier capital city of the future, that TfL won’t be raising a charge on cyclists using London’s new cycle superhighways.”
Roads in the UK are paid for by general taxation, such as income tax and council tax, with motorists entering the city centre paying additional fees in London via the Congestion Charge.
During the think tank meeting - “Who should pay for London’s roads?” – organised by New London Architecture and co-hosted by TfL, Reid says there was a general consensus that road charging would need to be extended beyond the Congestion Charge zone soon.
Reid was invited to the think tank because of his expertise in the area, having written the history book, Roads Were Not Built For Cars.
Laura Laker is a freelance journalist with more than a decade’s experience covering cycling, walking and wheeling (and other means of transport). Beginning her career with road.cc, Laura has also written for national and specialist titles of all stripes. One part of the popular Streets Ahead podcast, she sometimes appears as a talking head on TV and radio, and in real life at conferences and festivals. She is also the author of Potholes and Pavements: a Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network.
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25 comments
You don't get many cyclists on the strategic road network, in fact it's so rare that the police feel the need tweet about it when they do.
It's a pity a tax on motor vehicle pollution is being used to help motorists make more pollution, but that's the torys for you.
Be careful before you explain to people that 'road tax' doesn't exist. The Chancellor has already announced that very soon VED will be ringfenced for the building and maintenance of roads. (Strictly speaking not all roads - only motorways and trunk roads.)
I'm afraid we are going back to 1937 and those who pay most will don the cloak of entitlement.
I'd be happy to be charged to use the roads as a cyclist if they wanted to introduce a "road tax". But it has to be directly proportional to the vehicle, one horse power bike and rider(I'm being very generous in my case) £100.
Your average (hard working) family's car 200 horse power ish. £20,000
I'd be happy for them to do it by weight too, it would have the same result.
A road tax for the up keep of the roads would have to be based on some measure and as long as it proportional, I'd be happy to see the great unwashed priced off the roads.
I imagine the difficulty in charging cyclists to use the city’s roads and infrastructure such as the city’s Cycle Superhighways would be the administration of the charge and the potential for the charge not to cover the administration costs.
Also I'm not sure on the legal question of making a road a toll road, or part of it a toll road (as the ruling against the LTDA said the cycle superhighways are road imrovements).
To administer a charge, you would probably have to licence cyclists, the problems, expense and lack of benefits of licenecing cyclists are documented here:
http://ipayroadtax.com/licensed-to-cycle/licensed-to-cycle/
On the 'Road Tax' question, VED is charged by emissions and so cyclists would fall into the zero rate band.
Double the congestion zone, double the fee and get vehicle users to compensate for all the pollution they're creating , damaging the environment and killing people through health issues.
www.veloism.cc
As far as my knowledge goes it would be impossible to charge a cyclist ,carriage, becasue as such you have a legal right to unffeterd use of the Queens highways. However I don't know if these new cycle lanes are in legal terms part of the Queens highway.
You have a right to travel on the highways by foot, on a horse or in / on a carriage!
Given that bicycles aren't licenced/registered/whatever, how were they planning on making it work? Stick some sort of Oyster terminal on every street corner, or say you could only ride a bike in London if you displayed some sort of number plate?
The real issue is that if we are going to talk about road users having to pay towards the costs they incur, it's drivers who would have to pay more - and/or cyclists being paid. See thishttp://rdrf.org.uk/2012/12/31/the-true-costs-of-automobility-external-co... for an explanation
Is there any cycling/cycling infrastructure outside of London?
Yes, but it isn't 'super' or sponsored or particularly newsworthy....
Although that tunnel up the valleys...
People who ride bikes already pay for the cycle super highways, just like everyone else they pay income tax which is used to fund the construction and maintenance of the roads.
No such thing as road tax, which should be common knowledge.
If you did like for like accounting of the external costs mentioned, wouldn't you be likely to end up with a negative charge? i.e. paying the cyclists. Is that why it was rejected?
Funny you say that, following the realisation that cyclists are a very good thing for everything, there have been schemes in other european cities where they have paid cyclists per-mile in a bid to try and increase their numbers.
Local politicians here in Norway suggested that for a local council to encourage council employees to cycle until someone asked how they would police it. Would all riders be asked to submit Strava reports to show the did cycle as they suspected some would drive to the edge of town, then cycle the last 2km claiming for the entire 20km trip... System duly scrapped, but interest free loans to buy bikes paid over a year are common place here...
They should just make cyclists pay road tax like every other motorist has to.
I take it that's a joke. If its not, you win "Thick Cunt on the Internet of the Day". Apart from road tax not existing since 1937, not all other motorists pay VED either.
That's what I like, reasoned argument against a perfectly valid opinion.
Valid, except for the description of cyclists as motorists, and the reference to a nonexistent tax. So, not valid at all.
Yeah, deliberate silliness. Deliberate silliness that I assumed would be painfully obvious. But then I take it you knew that. If not you win "Gullible c..."
Cyclists are not 'other motorists' (unless they're riding electric bicycles).
Except all the ones that are charged nothing...
Oh how I've laughed at those dismissing this idea, a well thoughout idea and comment.
No-one pays road tax, therefore cyclist don't pay, therefore nothing changes.
Brilliant.
It was discussed and rejected.
Nothing to see here. It's sensible to discuss it and even more sensible to reject it.
They might well have discussed it just to have response for Brian Cooke, TfL's resident road tax preacher and a bit of a berk.
I checked my calendar: it's still 6 weeks until April 1st.