speedking

This will be why the roads are so quiet then. Brilliant

ScoobyWon't

You should try to drive through Nottingham. It's gridlocked as there are nothing but roadworks. It took me 45 minutes to drive less than a mile, last week. I'd hate to see the roads busier.

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

Supply vs demand, jack it up too high and people will use alternative means to get around

TX.

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

True, but the end result will always be the same, people will just keep being shafted one way or another.

More people use public transport, the prices will just keep jumping up for exactly the reason you mention. Fuel tax will probably increase even more to cover the loss of revenue due to those who have chosen an alternative means of transport.

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

Lets face it Lisa the cost of fuel is only going one way, imho people will eventually be forced to work close to home / move close to work so that they can walk or cycle ... using the car will be just for rich people or special occasions.



TX.

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, I agree.

Then, when that happens, there will be some sort of tax put on walking/cycling no doubt, or they will just have to make the money back elsewhere (VAT/income tax), or both.

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

Oxygen tax

TX.

GC8

If you think that youre being shafted, then you should take a bus ride in Sheffield.

Newcastle centre to Heaton/Byker Foss Way cost less than half what an equivalent journey here would cost. Same bus company too.

jura11

iTrader: (7)

But still think if they lower tax/VAT on the fuel this can bring more money to the Treasury etc.


Jura

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

Not me specifically, it was a general comment.

I'm sure the further south you go, the worse it gets.

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

You would think so.

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

Could a huge factor be that cars are becoming so good with fuel economy?

pslewis

Car are better with fuel - but, importantly, more people are turning away from gas guzzlers and buying these efficient cars.

Add to that, people are limiting their travelling by car ... and there we have it - a sea change in the choices motorists are making.

Even, toy, plaything cars, are required to use less fuel than back in the day.

RA Dunk

Just noticed they have put National Insurance Contributions on our holiday pay, effective from the end of this month AFAIK.

jonc

The cynical attempt of governments both past and present in clawing in more tax from the motoring public under the guise of environmentalism has finally milked this cash cow dry. Tax revenues are down despite the rises in duty and the introduction of the "showroom tax". It also doesn't help with the disparity between the fluctuations in the price of crude and what petrol/diesel costs at the forecourt. We all know price increases in crude are passed on to the motorists almost immediately by the profiteering oil conglomerates whilst price reductions takes months before they are pass down to motorists.

TelBoy

Links are boring i know, but the first paragraph of this Wiki page is worth reading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laffer_curve

legacy_gtb

iTrader: (3)

My legacy's been off the road since April ..... that probably accounts for most of it!

speedking

This is where we started. In medieval times all the food and fuel was grown around the village, the blacksmith etc. worked in the village. Very few people travelled to the next county. With the advent of 'cheap' transport we heve evolved to think nothing of commuting 20 miles to work, shops have moved to out of town precincts, hospitals and schools have thinned out on the basis that people can travel to attend them, with the consequent saving of economies of scale.

As transport costs increase, these arrangements will become less convenient and we will have to revert to the old ways. Progress

It's alright to say "people will ... be forced to work close to home / move close to work so that they can walk or cycle" but not everyone will be able to live within 3 miles of a school and hospital and work and shopping arcade. Therefore those services will have to become more distributed again to meet the population's requirements, and that's going to cost money.

Leslie

I have found it very encouraging that my Mini Cooper Clubman D manages just under 50 mpg on short runs on Devon twisty roads. 60MPG+ on a long run.

Surprisingly good performance too.

Les

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

I feel lucky being able to work from home, but when I do go out to visit people or have to drive 8 miles to town, I'm always thinking of the fuel costs I'm having to pay (plus the mileage being added to my car).

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I'll vouch that alot of people are driving alot slower these days.. i.e a 70mph limit urban clearway full of cars trundling at 40mph. And there's me whizzing past them all at 70mph in my 25mpg gas gazzling Golf

I just downloaded a data log from a car I'm running diagnostics on that keeps randomly cutting out with no fault codes...The driver drove to Manchester on the motorway and back and not once went above 60mph!

IMO I agree this long distance work-commuting does need to stop. I mean the majority of London's problems is caused by people working there but living in the outer regions. This over-centralised economy needs to be broken up and decentralised more, so people don't have to travel to a specfic region to get a decent job in their field. Of course that goes for amenities and services too.

adz556

iTrader: (5)

Not always possible though.....I work as a site manager in construction so change my place of work regularly.....I've worked in 4 completely different regions in 4 years. I'm currently driving 35 miles each way to work and thats a close one for me. As far as fuel demand dropping......my petrol demand is massively down as the scoob is now reserved for weekends but diesel is UP!!!! Should never hand me a fuel card that gives me unlimited mileage for £40 a month lol

Dr Hu

A lot of people are not making journeys due to cost.

Fancy nipping to the coast for a day by the sea love? Not when it;s a £60quid round trip in petrol.....

Soon adds up, people don't have the disposable income to spend on frivolous journeys IMHO

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Ha, guess what I have in my cut/paste buffer, the very same link, they are killing the Golden Goose, they are like Billy Bunter in a tuck shop "Hmm, another Sticky Bun, dont mind if I do", i.e. it is the default response to tax travel by car more, under the guise of some comedy eco thing, its a premise for gathering tax but in reality it doesnt really affect our emissions enough to make an appreciable difference, soem self flagellate and buy Prius's which have massive batteries full of Lithium in them, made by some fairly heavy duty chemical processes rather than just using an existing car which still has penty of life in it, no, they throw that away.

We should use the car for what is is good at, carting a number of people and goods about, not to avoid walking 100 yards, I love to use my bike and am happy walking a lot of the time, just got back from the states and my journey was probably ten times my annual carbon emission in all the cars we own.

If they backed off the tax, had the courage to try it and could weather the ineviatable hand wringing greenies proclaiming armageddon then I suspect people would use their cars more for days out and shopping, feel like they have more disposable income and spend it, get the economy going, as it is a lot of people just use it for work and sit in watching telly instead of going out and spending cash, trouble is, they will get out of the habit soon...

DYK

Teach the bloody greedy gov a lesson.take away the tax and fuel would be cheap as chips..

pslewis

I was asking myself a question after hearing this news, "how much would fuel have to be to stop my trips out to the coast on a sunny day in my MX5".

£20 a gallon wouldn't stop me ... in fact, the empty roads would make the trip all the more pleasurable.

Therefore, on balance, I would like to see the £5 a litre mark reached - it's about time the riff-raff took the bus and allowed the roads to be used by us toffs!!

RA Dunk

Who's going to take the bait first at Petes lame attempt for a bite?

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Ha! The only day you'd see me ever consider a electric car is if it had a diesel backup engine. No such car exists.

The Vauxhall Ampera/Chevy Volt is close, but its petrol and we all know a diesel version would get better MPG. Oh,and it's bloody expensive.

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

It would be intresting to see how expensive bus fares would be if it were £5 litre.

jonc

Yes they do: http://www.peugeot.co.uk/hybrid-cars-range/