DRIVERS are facing paying for bridge tolls once again as a way of cutting the numbers of cars on the road, according to reports.
Tolls may be reintroduced as a way of meeting Scotland’s ambitious net zero targets, it has been claimed.
Ministers regard the move as “inevitable” despite the expectation such a move would prove unpopular with voters, the Sunday Times reports.
But a report by Transport Scotland outlining plans to reduce car usage claimed: “the public mood on road pricing has moved on since the 2000s, and that in 2021 more people support than oppose road pricing as a concept."
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Scotland’s Climate Assembly backed increased taxes on drivers to fund improvements in public transport.
Though plans are at an early stage, it is thought charges could be introduced on busy motorways such as the M8 and crossings like the Skye and Erskine bridges.
The SNP came to power in 2007 and fulfilled a campaign pledge to axe all remaining road charges in Scotland, including those on the Forth and Tay bridges.
Former First Minister Alex Salmond described tolls as “the poll tax on wheels”.
The Sunday Times reported the idea of reintroducing tolls is backed by Glasgow city council.
Scotland’s largest local authority said in a new transport strategy charging motorists would help meet its target of reducing car journeys by 30%.
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Tolls are still in use in the rest of the UK and across Europe. London charges drivers £15 per day for driving within its congestion zone between the hours of 7am and 10pm.
A Transport Scotland spokesperson told the paper: “We have committed in the 20% car kilometre reduction route map to commission research exploring a range of equitable options for demand management to discourage car use, including pricing.
“This will enable the development of a new Framework for Car Demand Management by 2025, taking into account the needs of people in rural areas and people on low incomes to help ensure a just transition to net-zero.
“The research will allow Scottish Government to build the evidence base on demand management options and inform our position on the reform of reserved motoring taxes.
"Meanwhile we will continue to press the UK Government for constructive dialogue on its plans for structural reform of motoring taxation, which the UK Government itself acknowledged is inevitable and required in their recent Net Zero Review.
“Enabling legislation for road pricing is already in place in Scotland, yet no local authority has pursued this since Edinburgh held a referendum in 2005.”
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