Just two per cent in favour of taxing Scottish cyclists

Feedback to a consultation set out by the Scottish Government, discussing whether or not a ‘road tax’ should apply to cyclists, has returned a near unanimous ‘no’ verdict.

The consulation document was mainly about increasing cycling in Scotland, but Scottish newspapers have, instead, today focussed on the ‘road tax’ argument, as discussed by iPayRoadTax.com.

Just two per cent of respondents to the Scottish survey were in favour of imposing a tax on all road-going cyclists, while seven out of ten respondents voted against the proposition. The remainder held no firm view on the topic.

The plan gathered strong opposition from the outset, with many asking simply, "how would the Government go about enforcing the law?"

Scotland’s Government will now go about developing cycling, via its Cycling Action Plan, ultimately aiming for ten per cent of all trips to be made by bike by 2020.

Dynesh Vijayaraghavan from the Sustainable Transport Team at the Scottish Government gave these comments on the report:

"A very small minority of views suggested a tax would be acceptable if the money was hypothecated for cycling improvements.

"Transform Scotland, in its response, said bringing in road tax would be ‘an effective way of deterring cycling – and would act against the Government’s ambitions for cycle growth."