What taxes on other people would you support?

Norman_Castle

^ Cars should be taxed by size. If urban housewives insist on driving pointlessly oversized 4x4 poser wagons they should be penalised. Many cars are 25% bigger than needed which is not a problem on most roads but is a PITA for everyone when they overfill parking spaces. In 10 years time if you can get into a parking space you will be stuck inside the car because the doors won't open wide enough to get out.

Redknapps_Dog

Sugary drinks is a must.

westernpromise

If we taxed vehicles by how much road width they occupied, that would mean cyclists - who always hog the middle of the road - would pay much the same as cars. I'd definitely support that.

Norman_Castle

A banality tax could be worthwhile.

lisyloo

that would mean cyclists - who always hog the middle of the road

I don't.
I use the cycle superhighway on Victoria embankment which is 2-way for cyclists for one-carriageway.
I would tax people who use the word always inappropriately.
I don't ever do that.

zagubov

As mentioned before I'd tax beards but also razors.

Also machetes and dangerous knives. Psychotic people seem to be able to buy them far too cheaply.

cells

westernpromise wrote: »

If we taxed vehicles by how much road width they occupied, that would mean cyclists - who always hog the middle of the road - would pay much the same as cars. I'd definitely support that.

their slower speed means they also take more time on the roads

mwpt

cells wrote: »

their slower speed means they also take more time on the roads

Just on the note of cycling. Everyone is focussing on self driving cars but I actually think the next "big thing" will be electric bicycles. I know they already exist but if and when battery technology improves I expect the uptake in use for commuting to be large.

cells

mwpt wrote: »

Just on the note of cycling. Everyone is focussing on self driving cars but I actually think the next "big thing" will be electric bicycles. I know they already exist but if and when battery technology improves I expect the uptake in use for commuting to be large.

maybe, electric scooters seem more reasonable as a mass market lower cost transport system. Some countries where the weather is better is already heavily scooters. The tech is already there but there really needs to be a Tesla like manufacturer to get it into general acceptance. Scooters and motorbikes. They dont need all that powerful a motor or battery pack and the fuel savings gains are larger than for cars which are more optimized

The thing with self drive cars are their safety and utility is going to be much higher. That is to say the move to autonomy is the big productivity jump not the move from petrol to electricity


Somewhere around £100 billion annually is spent on cars directly and indirectly in just the UK. Computer cars in fleets represent the possibility to reduce that by half maybe more so its a £50 billion plus price in just the UK and closer to a $10 trillion per year global saving.

mwpt

cells wrote: »

maybe, electric scooters seem more reasonable as a mass market lower cost transport system. Some countries where the weather is better is already heavily scooters. The tech is already there but there really needs to be a Tesla like manufacturer to get it into general acceptance. Scooters and motorbikes. They dont need all that powerful a motor or battery pack and the fuel savings gains are larger than for cars which are more optimized

The thing with self drive cars are their safety and utility is going to be much higher. That is to say the move to autonomy is the big productivity jump not the move from petrol to electricity

Absolutely. If we can get past the luddite human hurdles, autonomous cars are a game changer.

The reason I pick cycling over scooters / motorbikes is that it is seen as safer, cleaner and healthier. I don't know if it actually is, but I'm pretty sure that is the perception and why I think that people will jump on board if partial pedal / partial electric bikes become viable for long commutes. I would certainly buy one if the battery was better and the bike cheaper.