Is it just me ??

1) This goverment continually go on about cutting traffic by using 'road pricing'. They then deny that this isn't just a method of raising revenue.

2) Last week it was anounced that the subsidy to the railways is to be reduced. Any improvements are to be funded by the people who use trains. The result will probably be yet another increase in prices. The UK already has the most expensive railway fares in Europe. The standard return from Manchester to London is already over £200.

Isn't one of the best ways to get people to actually use public transport to reduce the price people have to pay? Or do 'the government' only want to use 'the stick' ..... or is 1 actually actually another 'stealth' tax.

p.s. Please don't start posting about the cost of owning/running a car in the cost of a journey by car. If you own a car & use it less this actually increases the cost per mile of a journey !!

If the UK government wants to increase UK-UK flights, they are on the right track. Silly buggers

Yes, but you'd also need to improve the infrastructure that public transport needs to run on.

I cycle a 20km round trip, most of it on a fairly well maintained cycle track which in most places is superior to the roads between my house and the office.

And how much does that cost? It's free to you. As are roads - what is obscene is that the users of railways - which are much less environmentally damaging than cars - are expected to pick up the cost of renewal whilst all of us are expected to pay from taxation billions annually to repair and upgrade roads - the cost to widen 51 miles of the M6 is almost 3 billion pds!

The govt keeps talking about reducing carbon use but keeps expanding the infrastructure for road transport and expanding airports. That's the real lack of joined up thinking.

Bring on the road pricing......

bring on air tax!

Indeed, an EU wide tax on aviation fuel.

The irony being that the cycle track used to be a train line!

The rail infrastructure needs vast improvement, and if they're going to widen the M6, why not have a dedicated bus lane? If the buses are given an uhindered route from A-B, aren't more folks are going to use them if they offered a reasonibly priced, reliable service?

In Perth & Brisbane, the local bus & train service is far superior to here, with dedicated bus lanes (over and underground) - it's pretty cheap with interchangeable bus/train/ferry tickets and the public transport is well used during peak times.