Glengavel wrote:As that report says, the only way to charge drivers by the mile is to introduce telematic tracking. Aside from the logistical and technical issues - hello big brother!
My beef with pay-per-mile is that it's a tax on rural dwellers. 10p per mile on a round trip of 2 miles for a weekly shop is £10.40 a year, a 20 mile round trip is £104. The usual argument to that is "well, don't live in the country" which is not helpful.
Unfortunately one of the disadvantages of living in a rural area is you often have little alternative to using a car to get around, and motoring mileage and associated costs will increase. That is the case regardless of the method of propulsion. People who choose to live in a rural area have to accept this, you might claim this is not helpful but lifestyle choices frequently come with benefits and costs (not necessarily financial) which have to be weighed up, that is life in the end.
If we go down the route of taxation per mile when fossil fuel vehicles are phased out, it is arguably fairer to base the cost on demand, so people who drive down very busy roads pay the most, and people who drive on near empty roads pay the least. This way those who live in cities with congested roads and alternatives such as public transport, walking and cycling have the option to use these alternatives, which country dwellers don't. This also follows the standard model that cost is proportional to demand, as it is on public transport. This may result in the population realising that maybe we don't all have to pile into a limited area city centre at the same time, and staggered or hybrid working becomes the norm.