More areas benefit from TIF funding

08 November 2006

The East Midlands, Norwich and Reading have been awarded funding to develop Transport Innovation Fund schemes.
A total of nine areas across England will share 7.5M to help develop innovative plans to tackle local congestion, in advance of the main TIF.
The money comes from a second round of an £18M TIF pump priming fund, with six areas successful on both occasions: Cambridgeshire County Council, Durham City Council Greater Manchester, Shropshire County Council, Tyne and Wear and the West Midlands conurbation.
The three new areas to receive funding are an East Midlands alliance known as the 6cs, Reading Borough Council and Norfolk County Council (for Norwich).
The East Midlands region – made up of Leicester, Nottingham and Derby city councils and their respective county councils – has received £1.8M to help fund a £3.5M research project to identify the region’s congestion hotspots and work out the impact of improving public transport and road user charging.
Nicholas Rushton, Leicestershire's cabinet member for transportation and highways, said, ‘Joining forces with neighbouring authorities to examine closely what options would help tackle growing congestion is an important step forward towards improving the region’s transport system.’
Norfolk has secured £250,000 to explore whether congestion charging in Norwich is a feasible option for the future, and Reading has won £680,000 to investigate the effects of measures including road user charging, fares reductions, changes to the existing road system and the introduction of a Mass Rapid Transit.
Greater Manchester has been awarded £1.95M, adding to the £1.5M awarded in the first round of funding last year. Councillor Roger Jones, Chair of Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority, said, ‘I look forward to us making a robust bid for major TIF funding next summer, which will help us deliver our Metrolink expansion proposals as well as further boosting the bus and rail networks.’
Cambridgeshire will use its £1.05M to investigate what public transport improvements are needed to tackle congestion. ‘This could mean more park and rides sites, more bus lanes and more bus priority measures,’ a spokesman said.
Elsewhere, the West Midlands has received £600,000, Tyne and Wear £750,000, Shropshire £377,800, and Durham £50,000.
The schemes could eventually be funded from the main TIF, subject to a further bidding process. The first round of funding was announced a year ago.

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