IT is hardly surprising that motorists, facing the prospect of being charged for privileges they previously enjoyed for free, yelp in protest.

It is true that, when the 1920 Roads and Finance Act introduced what we now know as Vehicle Excise Duty, it was referred to as Road Fund Tax, and at that time, there may have been some justification.

But if the costs of providing and maintaining highways were indeed to be borne directly and exclusively by road users, the tax would be much higher than it is now.

As an example, the massive growth in the construction of motorways from the mid-1950s onwards was financed from general taxation, not from road fund or vehicle excise tax. Likewise, fuel duty, is part of general taxation, and no more goes to build or repair roads than the tax on beer goes to build pubs and breweries.

The arguments put forward by Neil Teixeira are widely believed (The Bolton News, February 12). But any highway engineer with experience of network modelling will tell you why they are wrong.

What determines the capacity of any road is, firstly, the volume of traffic trying to use it at any time, and, secondly, the capacity of the principal junctions to let traffic through and accommodate conflicting movements.

Thus, regardless of the capacity, Crompton Way between Halliwell Road and Blackburn Road will largely be limited by the ability of the junction at Blackburn Road to allow traffic to flow through it. If more traffic than that junction can take attempts to traverse the junction, it simply blocks back from the junction.

The problems of highway congestion are simply that there are too many cars on the road, and it is not possible to build enough roads to accommodate all of those who try to use it.

Congestion charging, as introduced in London, actually speeded up traffic, by cutting out some of the optional journeys that could be made more easily and cheaply by other means.

One reason why there is so much traffic is that the cost of motoring has remained static, in real money terms, over the last 10 years, whereas the costs of public transport have risen by about 70 per cent and the quality has deteriorated.

If congestion charging is to be introduced, then a serious improvement in public transport is an imperative necessity.

Peter Johnston Kendal Road Bolton