Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Motorists vent fury over Tayside road charges plan

Traffic jam. Image: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Traffic jam. Image: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Tayside motorists have reacted angrily to plans to reduce the number of drivers on the road.

Ideas including road charges, reduced parking and sending private motorists the long route on journeys are all currently out for public consultation.

Members of Tayside and Central Scotland Transport Partnership (Tactran) are looking for the public’s view on these and other changes to the way we travel.

But what do you think of the idea?

‘Cripple businesses’

Our story on the Regional Transport Strategy was one of the most commented on when we published it earlier this month.

The plans have frustrated many readers, with one commenting the scheme will “cripple businesses”.

Another believes the road charges would have a knock-on effect for those using public transport in Dundee, where many bus services have been cancelled in recent months.

They said: “Considering the bus service in Dundee is poor at best, and pretty much non-existent in the evenings, this proposal sounds like a death-knell for the city centre.”

Road charges are already a reality for some some UK motorists with Londoners charged ÂŁ15 daily for driving within the Congestion charge zone.

That’s different to the Dundee Low Emission Zone, which will eventually levy ÂŁ60 fines on the most polluting vehicles.

‘Interfere drastically with our lives and personal freedoms’

Many readers felt outraged at their lack of control over the plan, although the consultation remains open for the public’s view.

One claimed road charges would only “penalise the common man” while another questioned: “why are they making life more difficult for everyone by pushing us into a corner?”

A frustrated reader added: “the word dictatorship comes to mind”.

The hassle for commuters was also a key concern.

One stated that with this scheme in place their journey “to work via public transport would mean getting 3 buses, and take over 1.5 hours each way as opposed to 50 mins by car”.

The partnership behind the consultation (Tactran) are encouraging the public to share their views on road charges and the other transport measures being considered.

Is the environment worth the cost? (literally)

But some of our readers also indicated that the charges could be a necessity due to the growing impact of climate change.

One wearily remarked, “who needs a habitable planet anyway?” while another mused, one assumes with a level of sarcasm, “if there was only some sort of evidence about climate change.”

Readers posed alternative solutions to road charges

Some provided alternatives to charging road users.

One stated that bringing a park and ride into the city centre “must be a priority”.

Another cited the often stated demand for a Dundee bypass.

The reader claimed the “best way of reducing traffic would be to bypass Dundee for people heading south to Edinburgh or north to Aberdeen” to minimise Kingsway hold-ups.

Better rail travel also came up.

Derek Henry wrote “the simple solution to reduce climate change is to invest in the rail service.”

Conversation