Jam tomorrow
Sir: Simon Jenkins is wrong to be so confi- dent that there will never be road pricing in London (Centre point, 19 November). For economic and environmental reasons, it is the right thing to do. Once the Government has exhausted every other option, it will have no choice but to adopt the policy. Congestion is a very expensive way of limiting demand for road use in London. It costs the economy in the order of £10 bil- lion each year. It would make sense to back urban road pricing and invest more in pub- lic transport: we would all be better off. Congestion also exacerbates the environ- mental damage caused by traffic. As traffic Speed drops from 25 mph to 10 mph, fuel consumption more than doubles, more than quadrupling the exhaust emissions on a given stretch of road. The stumbling block appears to be politi- cal, with ministers wrongly convinced that this would be a poll tax on wheels, leaving us with the unnecessary cost, pollution and frustra- tion of congestion well into the next century. Duncan Goldie-Scot
Lifespan Ltd Mavis Bank, Church Road Greatworth Banbury
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