Oh, where to begin
"Carbon emissions savings would be slim but definitely present" - is this before or after taking into account the emissions generated and other environmental damage caused in the making of the extra equipment? I don't believe anybody making this type of claim unless they can show that they have taken into account the total environmental cost.
"The main benefit, according to the report's authors, would come in the form of fewer accidents" - I'm in two minds about this. On the one hand the reduction in speed will mean fewer high speed accidents and resultant casualties. On the other hand you have all those people who will simply stamp their foot on the floor and go as fast as the car will let them, thinking less about how they drive in the process, which will lead to different types of accident, but at slower speeds.
Here's a better way to cut emissions, reduce congestion and accidents: Implement an integrated transport policy of which the core aim is to make local travel on busses, and train travel between stations, cheaper than doing the same journey in a car.
First accept that people who can afford to, will buy and run a car - so don't include maintenance, tax and insurance in when calculating the cost of a journey by car because I've already made the decision to shoulder those costs come what may. Now provide cheaper or equivalent alternatives for local and long distance travel with regular services run to time and people will use them. I drive 300 miles to London and back each week - it costs me £40 in diesel for my car but £120 on the train at the same time of day, with the same journey time, so my choice is to use my car and pocket £80.
So charge, for example, the equivalent of 20p a mile for local bus journeys, 10p a mile for rail journeys and 5p a mile for long distance coach services and people will start to use them instead of getting in their car. A return ticket to London for me would now come in at say £30 off peak. You could still charge a premium for first class, and peak time train/coach travel - say 30%-60% more - and it will still be attractive. I would happily pay £50 for a ticket that took me to London for 9am on a Monday and allowed me to leave at 6pm on a Friday.
Oh, and get rid of all those stupid fares. Prices are calculated only on the distance between the start and end points of the journey. As for tickets, just do Single, Single (Peak), Return, Return (Peak). Singles/Outbound valid for 30 days, Returns valid for 90 days. Simplification reduces cost, waste, confusion and time. Per-mile rates are reviewed every six months and will never rise by more than the average inflation rate over the previous 12 months.
But, as always, the Government answer is to find a way to take more money from us whilst ignoring the best solutions. Sigh. If this ever comes in it'll probably push me to moving into mainland Europe.
Time to get my coat.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
