Road pricing is ‘key to cutting jams’

06 December 2006

A national road-pricing scheme could cut congestion by half and reduce the economic case for road expansion by 80%, Sir Rod Eddington has concluded, in his eagerly-awaited transport report.
In his government-commissioned report, Transport’s role in sustaining the UK’s productivity and competitiveness, the former BA chief executive backs the case for road pricing on a demand-management basis – as well as small-scale policies and improved local bus services – to beat congestion in the long term. A road charging scheme with a maximum charge of 80p/km to drive at the busiest times could generate £28bn a year in 2025, compared with the alternative of an extra £22bn worth of wasted time from rising congestion or an expensive road build programme.
He argues against implementing high-speed road and rail networks because fundamental infrastructure networks are already in place. Instead, the emphasis should be on improving the capacity and reliability of existing local networks, where transport demand is concentrated.
The report reveals that 69% of business journeys and 84% of commuter journeys are shorter than 15 miles.
Sir Rod advocates small-scale policies to tackle congestion in local areas, although he emphasises that such schemes will not be enough on their own. For example, small junction improvements can offer benefit:cost ratios between eight and 10, while walking and cycling schemes can provide wider BCRs over 10.
Regarding public transport, he favours improved bus services ahead of costlier fixed infrastructure schemes, such as trams, because they can offer a higher-return, a more flexible and responsive solution to transport problems – but the appropriate solution depends on the density of travel demand.
The report urges the Government to build on the recent White Paper in order to grant sub-national bodies the capacity and accountability to deliver changes in transport policy. This includes legislation to enable local bodies to introduce bus franchising in urban areas, alongside bus-priority measures and subsidy reform in order to reverse the decline in patronage since deregulation 20 years ago.
These changes can be achieved through allowing local authorities to co-operate more with bus operators and allowing greater co-ordination between operators.
John Smart, director of technical affairs works at the Institution of Highways & Transportation, agreed with the report’s approach of balancing road pricing with improvements in certain areas, and hoped it would spur the Government into ‘picking up with the funding issue’.
‘Current levels of funding in the local authority pot are insufficient for the maintenance backlog, let alone new schemes,’ he told Surveyor.

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