Queen unveils road pricing and bus proposals

15 November 2006

The Queen’s Speech has paved the way for local authorities to begin work on road-pricing schemes and gives hope of increased freedom on bringing buses under tighter council control.
The much-anticipated draft Road Transport Bill was announced this week and – confirming letters leaked to the media at the weekend – could well lead to local authorities being able to decide where, when and if they want to introduce toll road schemes.
However, how this would work is still unclear, following transport secretary Douglas Alexander’s leaked letter, published in The Sunday Times, saying he should be able to set ‘simpler national standards’ on congestion charging to help prevent confusion among the public.
The Bill could lead to more congestion schemes across the country beyond those already being considered under the Transport Innovation Funding bid.
The Bill could also necessitate an overhaul of current rules on motoring, including fuel duty, car tax, road and river-crossing tolls, proposed environmental motoring levies in London, and a congestion scheme being proposed under TIF, if drivers are to be made to pay to use certain roads. The Bill will also give councils more powers to improve local bus services. Although these will not be as far-reaching as those enjoyed by Transport for London, the Government does hope giving power to elected officials will boost falling patronage across the board.
In the capital, the mayor of London will have the power to run a greener Olympic Games under powers to crackdown on pollution through the Greater London Authority Bill. It transfers powers and responsibilities to the mayor’s office allowing for work against climate change during the construction of the Olympic village, stadia and transport routes.
Both the Crossrail Bill and the Corporate Manslaughter Bill were carried over from the last Parliamentary term.
The Crossrail Bill backs plans for the building, maintenance and operation of a new east-west London railway, while the Corporate Manslaughter Bill creates a specific offence of corporate manslaughter, which could lead to authorities being prosecuted for not gritting primary commuter routes when it snows.
Paul Watters, head of roads and transport policy for the AA Motoring Trust, said: ‘Drivers will be suspicious road charging provides an opportunity for the Government to raise more revenue from them and the system needs to be transparent if it is to carry support. It must also ensure drivers are not paying significantly more only to sit in the same traffic jams, day after day.’

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Queen unveils road pricing and bus proposals

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