The recent tax review proposing a radical user-pays roads plan highlights the tendency that Governments have towards overcomplicated solutions to simple problems. If the aim is to have the user pay then a simple engine hour logging device will serve the purpose just as well as any complicated GPS based system that monitors whether a vehicle is travelling in city peak hour traffic. An hour of engine time could be 10km in the city or up to 100km in the country. Chose to travel outside of the peak hours in the city and you get more value for your road charge. Why complicate it further?
User pays tax review
The recent tax review proposing a radical user-pays roads plan highlights the tendency that Governments have towards overcomplicated solutions to simple problems. If the aim is to have the user pay then a simple engine hour logging device will serve the purpose just as well as any complicated GPS based system that monitors whether a vehicle is travelling in city peak hour traffic. An hour of engine time could be 10km in the city or up to 100km in the country. Chose to travel outside of the peak hours in the city and you get more value for your road charge. Why complicate it further?