Jams tomorrow.
OUR motorways are one of those British institutions so much envied — like Lloyd's, the BBC and the National Health Service — that nobody has dared to copy them. They are and always have been free, cones, contraflows and all. France's autoroutes have toll gates and are so expensive that the state-owned companies which own them have the money that they need to keep them open. The idea that we might learn from them, and treat the roads as a com- modity whose use can be rationed by price, is by definition un-British. The last govern- ment looked at it and boldly decided to do nothing until after the election. Now we have John Prescott's plans to charge for road space in city centres, but not until the next election, or the next but one. I don't think the City of London should wait. Citi- zens and ratepayers would have free passes on their windscreens, but others driving in or through would be stopped at the ring of steel (bollards, actually) and made to pay. Proceeds to Crossrail.
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