2008/11/23 Adrian Stott [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Most of BW's costs are fixed. The number (let alone size) of boats, > and the amount each navigates, makes almost no difference to what BW > needs to spend per year to maintain the system > > In fact, the marginal cost to BW of a boat navigating a km of waterway > is *so* small that it does not justify the cost to BW of installing > even the simplest use-monitoring system. > > As a result, tolls are not an appropriate way to charge for boating > today. The charge needs to be mostly (if not entirely) fixed (i.e. a > single payment for unlimited use of the waterways concerned during a > stated period). > >
I couldn't agree with Adrian more on this, especially the views he expresses later in his posting about the libertarian aspects of monitoring our movements. There was a naive report issued earlier this year by IWAC (inland Waterways Advisory Council) which raised the prospect of all manner of extraordinary methods to monitor us ranging from enbedding microchips in our licence plates to the erection of road-type cameras at canal junctions to photograph us. OK, none of these wilder idea was was recommended by IWAC, but the fact they were on the table at all scared the hell out of me. The fact is, Laurence, computer-based toll charging would erode the sort of go-as-you-please canal cruising we all value so much. As Adrian says, BW's financing, however it is achieved, essentially needs to be fixed. And where would toll charging leave the current license? You can't charge people at the current licence levels and then charge them again to move their boats. Surely you're not suggesting that, are you? Steve [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
