Chancellor considering options for a national road pricing scheme - drivers' views

Following reports that the Chancellor is considering options for a national road pricing scheme to stem falling fuel duty revenue, RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said:

“As more electric vehicles come on to our roads, revenue from fuel duty will decline so it’s inevitable a new system will have to be developed. While not paying car tax is clearly an incentive to go fully electric at the moment, we will very soon need a system that can levy tax on both conventionally fuelled and battery electric vehicles fairly. If this isn’t addressed, we risk finding ourselves in a situation where petrol and diesel drivers continue to pay all the tax for using the roads which is unsustainable.

“But drivers are firm in their views that any new system must not be used as a way to increase the tax burden on them. Despite this, RAC research shows around four-in-10 drivers believe that some form of ‘pay-per mile’ system would be fairer than the current system of fuel duty, while half (49%) agree that the more someone drives the more they should pay in tax. Drivers are also clear that tax revenues from any replacement for fuel duty should be solely reinvested back into the road network.”