ETA enters road-charging debate and backs the government

One of Britain’s leading motoring organisations, the ETA, (Environmental Transport Association), has come out in support of the Government’s controversial road pricing proposals despite the overwhelming public opposition to the scheme.

The ETA, Britain’s motoring organisation for people concerned about the environment, has been campaigning for congestion charging for years and claims it will not only cut congestion but will be cheaper for most motorists.

The ETA maintains its support for road pricing even though more than one million people have signed a petition asking the Prime Minister to stop the proposal. The signatories say they are concerned that they will be tracked by satellite as they travel around the country and that travel costs will soar.

But their fears are misplaced.

“The most common error motorists make” says ETA Director Andrew Davis “is that they think the government need use satellites to track cars around the country. Not true. Government could have no greater knowledge of your whereabouts than it currently does from your mobile telephone.”

“All cars will have an in-car congestion charging device – a simple box – which works in the same way as SatNav systems.”

Andrew continues, “People have satellite navigation in their cars already. These devices use satellites – the global positioning system (GPS) - to work out their location. The SatNav devices look at the satellite – the satellite does not look at the car. The in-car congestion charging device will need to know where it is – so it will use GPS.”

“There are also fears that government will have a nationwide billing system to charge all the motorists so that it knows where they have travelled. Again, just like a pay-as-you-go mobile telephone, your in-car congestion charging device will top itself up in a way that suits you – simple. No-one need know where you have travelled at all – no need for Big Brother.”

Andrew concludes, “And not only will road pricing cut congestion, it will save motorists money. Remember there will no longer be any fuel duty or vehicle excise duty. Most roads most of the time have no congestion. Most people will either pay the same or pay less.”

The ETA maintains that if we are to combat congestion we need better roads, good public transport and a sensible land-use planning policy. But without congestion charging no amount of road building will solve the problem.

For more information go to www.eta.co.uk

Notes to Editors

The ETA offers a comprehensive breakdown service across Europe. Their services also include motor insurance, cycle insurance, cycle rescue, travel and house insurance plus vehicle inspection service.

The ETA is the world’s only climate neutral motoring organisation

The mission: The aim of the ETA is to be the ethical alternative to other motoring organisations. Through the services above funds are generated for the ETA’s campaigns.

The aims:

To help ETA members and the general public take practical steps in reducing their impact on the environment and to demonstrate that people who make such changes have a better quality of life.
To encourage government at all levels to understand the benefits of doing less but making more impact. ETA transport proposals would reduce the national government’s expenditure on transport to almost zero whilst improving the transport system.