Oxfordshire County Council will allow motorists to get special permits to drive only 100 days a year or fine them to “reduce the need for private vehicle travel”. I am proposing a plan.
A council plan for Oxfordshire in southeastern England calls for the city of Oxford to be divided into six districts from next August, with strict rules on how often motorists can drive and where they can go in the town centre. I hope
of The proposal was announced in August And the council just this month Completed public consultation.
Use traffic filters to stop unauthorized drivers from taking busy routes during peak hours.
The city council said it was designed to “reduce traffic throughout the city, make bus travel faster and more reliable, and make walking and biking safer and more attractive.”
Unauthorized private vehicles are not permitted.However All other vehicles including buses, coaches, taxis, vans, mopeds, bikes and HGVs Always allowed.
The scheme will be implemented using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras during business hours.
anti car approach
A spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council told the Epoch Times in an email that day passes are available to residents of Oxford and several areas just west of the city.
“This allows vehicle owners to pass all traffic filters for up to 100 days per year, which equates to an average of two days per week. Drivers of vehicles not using them will be charged a fine (currently £70),” he said.
The council said it would introduce them under an experimental traffic control order (ETRO) for a minimum of six months from summer 2023.
Roger Lawson, director of the Freedom for Drivers Foundation (FFDF), an advocacy group for automobiles, told The Epoch Times that “drivers will be very inconvenienced if we approve this change.”
“The latest proposal from the Oxford Council just illustrates their anti-automotive approach,” he said.
He said he believed the news was “an escalation in the past two decades” and that the council “clearly intends to pursue the plan regardless of public consultation”.
“Many councils have one or two who are anti-cars, avid cyclists, who are passionate about the environment for various reasons, but they want to ban all cars. he said.
of August, County Council Minister for Travel and Development Strategy, Labor and Cooperatives Duncan Enright said: Cycling and public transport are natural first choices. ”
“Currently, traffic jams are delaying bus services. Increased traffic is making cycling less attractive. People traveling by taxi get stuck in traffic, which is costly for both passengers and taxi companies. situation,” he added.
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Owen Evans is a UK-based journalist with a particular interest in civil liberties and free speech, covering stories from a wide variety of countries.