Wicked Uncle Nigel wrote:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7271462.stm
>
> First they said the tax you have to pay to get into London was a
> "Congestion Charge". That lie went out the window when they put it up
> for so-called "gas-guzzlers". So they rebranded it a "Green charge" to
> make polluters pay.
>
> Then they remove the exemption for LPG vehicles.
>
> So now they've stopped the *******s and are (tacitly) finally admitting
> that it's a simple money-raising tax.
>
> How long before bikes lose their exemption?

IIRC I remember reading somewhere that bikes were except for technical
reasons.

The 'window' in which a number plate can appear in is actually very
small when you're looking at cars/lorries in a lane, so it's easy for
the cameras to find the numberplate and get the details.

For bikes however the numberplate could be anywhere all over the lane,
it's much harder for the computer software to track the numberplate down
and grab the numbers from it.

TOG@Toil wrote:
> No, the point is that I couldn't find a single bay, occupied or not.
> Not all the way from Blackfriars Bridge to the far end of Cannon
> Street, anyway.

a couple i can think of off the top of my head:

http://tinyurl.com/yvfbaj
http://tinyurl.com/yuayhs

there must be loads more
--
dog
sl1000 two#5 pwcram#3

On 4 Mar, 16:46, dog <d...@dev.null> wrote:
> TOG@Toil wrote:
> > *No, the point is that I couldn't find a single bay, occupied or not.
> > *Not all the way from Blackfriars Bridge to the far end of Cannon
> > *Street, anyway.
>
> a couple i can think of off the top of my head:
>
> *http://tinyurl.com/yvfbaj
> *http://tinyurl.com/yuayhs
>
OK, but rather far from where I was supposed to be visiting, which was
Cannon stret.

Seriously, I didn't see one, and I was looking hard.

> there must be loads more


You'd think so, but.... <shrug> see above.

Wicked Uncle Nigel wrote:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7271462.stm
>
>
> Then they remove the exemption for LPG vehicles.

This is an exemption I could never understand (nor the cheaper fuel duty
either) it's Liquefied Petroleum Gas, yes? fossil fuel same as petrol or
diesel - or am I missing something? Bio-gas I could understand.

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Derek Turner
<(E-Mail Removed)> typed
>Wicked Uncle Nigel wrote:
>> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7271462.stm
>> Then they remove the exemption for LPG vehicles.
>
>This is an exemption I could never understand (nor the cheaper fuel
>duty either) it's Liquefied Petroleum Gas, yes? fossil fuel same as
>petrol or diesel - or am I missing something? Bio-gas I could understand.

Lower CO2 emissions than petrol. The powers-that-be inform us that this
is important. When it suits them to.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - "He's hopeless, but he's honest"

My position was (and, to be honest, largely remains) one of complete ambiguity.

Andy Carvell wrote:
> Wicked Uncle Nigel wrote:
>> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7271462.stm
>>
>> First they said the tax you have to pay to get into London was a
>> "Congestion Charge". That lie went out the window when they put it up
>> for so-called "gas-guzzlers". So they rebranded it a "Green charge"
>> to make polluters pay.
>>
>> Then they remove the exemption for LPG vehicles.
>>
>> So now they've stopped the *******s and are (tacitly) finally
>> admitting that it's a simple money-raising tax.
>>
>> How long before bikes lose their exemption?
>
> IIRC I remember reading somewhere that bikes were except for technical
> reasons.
>
> The 'window' in which a number plate can appear in is actually very
> small when you're looking at cars/lorries in a lane, so it's easy for
> the cameras to find the numberplate and get the details.
>
> For bikes however the numberplate could be anywhere all over the lane,
> it's much harder for the computer software to track the numberplate
> down and grab the numbers from it.

Especially if filtering.

--
Spam: 220207818601

Wicked Uncle Nigel wrote:
> Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Derek Turner
> <(E-Mail Removed)> typed
>> Wicked Uncle Nigel wrote:
>>> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7271462.stm
>>> Then they remove the exemption for LPG vehicles.
>>
>> This is an exemption I could never understand (nor the cheaper fuel
>> duty either) it's Liquefied Petroleum Gas, yes? fossil fuel same as
>> petrol or diesel - or am I missing something? Bio-gas I could
>> understand.
>
> Lower CO2 emissions than petrol. The powers-that-be inform us that
> this is important. When it suits them to.

Plus it's better to use it for transport etc than flare it off.

--
Spam: 220207818601

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Champ
<(E-Mail Removed)> typed
>On Tue, 4 Mar 2008 15:42:03 +0000, Wicked Uncle Nigel
><(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7271462.stm
>>
>>First they said the tax you have to pay to get into London was a
>>"Congestion Charge". That lie went out the window when they put it up
>>for so-called "gas-guzzlers". So they rebranded it a "Green charge" to
>>make polluters pay.
>
>As someone else has pointed out, these two aims (reduce congestion and
>reduce pollution) are hardly mutually exclusive

Maybe not, but I'm (to use your word) irked by the naked spin of the
rebranding. It's a simple shot at what they perceive as a soft target.
What's next?

>>Then they remove the exemption for LPG vehicles.
>
>Which pollute.

Less. I thought this was a CO2 tax?

>>So now they've stopped the *******s and are (tacitly) finally admitting
>>that it's a simple money-raising tax.
>
>Do you have a reference for that tacit admission?

Eyes.

>>How long before bikes lose their exemption?
>
><shrug> Who knows. But I'm not sure why it all irks you so.

I'm increasingly ****ed off by the sheer authoritarianism of Labour (in
all its forms) in government (see the quote in the article "That is why
the AFD will not be phased out for almost two years, giving owners time
to change their vehicle."). The guy the article spoke to spent two grand
on an LPG kit, then they just move the goal posts.

Like you I remember the elation of 1997. Now I see that the criticisms
of the party levelled at the time (which I dismissed) are all too true.
They can't help themselves.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - "He's hopeless, but he's honest"

My position was (and, to be honest, largely remains) one of complete ambiguity.

Champ wrote:

> > How long before bikes lose their exemption?
>
> <shrug> Who knows. But I'm not sure why it all irks you so.

I think it's a good thing.

Especially given the huge investment in TfL over the past couple of years.

--
Simon

On Tue, 4 Mar 2008 08:24:26 -0800 (PST), "TOG@Toil"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Does anybody use a bike to travel into the City these days?

<waves> Private parking, ykims.