Oxford Council Plans 100-Day Limit for Motorists

Oxford, England. Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Oxfordshire County Council is proposing a scheme whereby motorists can only drive for 100 days of the year with a special permit or risk a fine in order to “reduce the need to travel in private cars.”

A council scheme in Oxfordshire, South East England, wants to divide the city of Oxford into six districts from next August with strict rules on how often motorists can drive and where they can go in the town centre.

The proposals were announced in August and the council has this month just wrapped up a public consultation.

Traffic filters will be used to stop drivers without permits from using busy routes at peak times, operating seven days a week from 7 am to 7 pm.

The council says that they are designed to “reduce traffic levels across the city, making bus journeys quicker and more reliable and walking and cycling safer and more attractive.”

Private cars will not be allowed without a permit. But all other vehicles including buses, coaches, taxis, vans, mopeds, motorbikes and HGVs will be allowed at all times.

The scheme will be enforced during operating hours using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.

Anti-car approach

A spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council told The Epoch Times by email that day passes will be available for residents of Oxford and some areas to the immediate west of the city.

“These will allow vehicle owners to travel through all of the traffic filters for up to 100 days per year. This equates to an average of two days per week. Any driver of a vehicle that goes through the traffic filter and is not exempt or using a permit, will be charged a penalty (currently £70),” he said.

The council said that it will introduce them under an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO) from summer 2023 for a minimum of six months.

Roger Lawson, director of the pro-car organisation The Freedom for Drivers Foundation (FFDF), told The Epoch Times that “drivers will be very inconvenienced when they approve this change.”

“The latest proposals from Oxford Council just explain their anti-car approach,” he said.

He said that the news is an “escalation from the last 20 years” and that he believes that the council “clearly intends to push ahead with the scheme irrespective of public consultation.”

“You find in many councils you get one or two people who are anti-car, people who are keen cyclists and passionate about the environment for various reasons and they just want to ban all cars,” he said.

In August, Labour & Cooperative Cllr Duncan Enright, the county council’s cabinet member for travel and development strategy, said: “Traffic filters are an important part of the central Oxfordshire travel plan, which aims to reduce the need to travel in private cars and make walking, cycling and public transport the natural first choice.”

“Currently, traffic congestion is delaying bus journeys. Cycling is becoming less attractive due to traffic levels. People traveling by taxis get stuck in jams – a costly situation for both passengers and taxi firms,” he added.