Is pay-as-you-drive the future?

Hello

Electric cars and vans are a vital part of tackling climate change. It's great that the Government wants to speed up the switch to electric vehicles, or EVs, and that new petrol and diesel cars won't be allowed to be sold from 2030.

But electric vehicles still add traffic to our roads, and produce particulate matter pollution which harms our health.

And there's another problem: EV drivers don't pay fuel duty or vehicle excise duty, so as more people make the switch, tax revenues will plummet.

The way motoring is taxed needs to change. Distance-based road pricing, or pay-as-you-drive, is one solution. But what do people think of pay-as-you-drive, and what's the fairest way for it to be implemented?

We wanted to find out. So we carried out the most in-depth analysis of public views on road pricing in recent years, as well as exploring the different ways that pay-as-you-drive could work. Today, we've published our report.

Read our report on pay-as-you-drive

We found that 60 per cent of people believe vehicle taxation needs reforming. After discussing the different options for reform, 49 per cent of people supported replacing fuel duty and vehicle excise duty with pay-as-you-drive, while only 18 per cent opposed it.

How could it work?

Pay-as-you-drive could be introduced in stages (read the report for full details). Eventually, there could be a smart scheme, whereby drivers are charged different amounts based not just on their car's emissions, but on when and where their journey takes place. That way, journeys where there's no public transport alternative could be charged less.

Can it be fair?

What about people in rural areas... people who need to drive for their jobs... or people concerned about privacy?

We looked at lots of ways that these concerns could be overcome. For instance, people could drive a number of miles before any charge kicks in, and this tax-free mileage allowance could be higher for rural drivers.

And people concerned about privacy could opt out of a smart scheme, instead paying a flat per-mile rate, with mileage checked at their MOT.

What about public transport?

If we want a green future where everyone can live full lives, good public transport is key. Our research found that a massive 69% of people would be more supportive of pay-as-you-drive if public transport was made cheaper with improved connectivity. So, a proportion of the money raised through road pricing should be ring-fenced for public transport.

Join the conversation

What do you think of the idea of pay-as-you-drive? Come and join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn using the hashtag #PayAsYouDrive - or share our report with your family, friends and networks.

All the best

Paul

Paul Tuohy
Chief Executive
Campaign for Better Transport

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