Being unpopular

7:00am Friday 23rd February 2007

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This week's news that a road-pricing study was carried out in Oxford serves to reinforce the point we have made before that Oxford and Oxfordshire cannot afford to ignore this issue.

The city was apparently chosen by the authors of the study because the county council has ruled out road tolls and it was therefore deemed a "neutral area". It was also undoubtedly chosen because it is exactly the sort of area where road pricing could make a difference to congestion.

You will not make yourself popular by supporting congestion charging - 1.7 million people have signed a petition opposing it.

Most of the signatories will not have offered any alternative solutions to the congestion that gridlocks us already and that could ultimately lead to an economic disaster for this and other regions.

Oxfordshire should be at the forefront of the arguments. Road pricing is not simply about more taxes. There are many ways of doing it.

Intelligent pricing regimes, including a lower road tax, could, for instance, lead to cheaper motoring for those who can use the road network outside the peak times.

Alternatively, money raised from road pricing schemes could be invested in better and cheaper road transport.

The arguments are not black and white and Oxfordshire should be engaging with them to see, first, whether road pricing could provide a way forward for us, and, second, if it can, what is the best way to do it.