Tories disclose election transport proposals

12 November 2009

Shadow transport secretary, Theresa Villiers, has hinted at the areas the Conservative Party would focus their local transport policies should they win the next general election.

Speaking at a Local Government Association conference this week, she said the Tories would look to increase the uptake of electric cars, although this alone ‘would not deliver the cuts needed’. She also promised to focus on improved public transport but ruled out a return to regulating bus services.

‘I don’t believe in the re-regulation of bus services. This would effectively give some councils control of bus services for free after they sold them off to private companies,’ she said.

She claimed there was ‘a lot of space’ to focus on smart travel plans, hinting that authorities would be given more freedom and reduced bureaucracy when it came to implementing innovative ideas.

‘We will look at the appraisal process for travel planning as currently it doesn’t give enough weight to “green” issues,’ she said.

Ms Villiers accused the Government of focusing too much on making ‘small improvements to many journeys’ and vowed to change approaches.

She said she would press colleagues in the Department of Health to include cycling in its plans because of the health benefits.

Ms Villiers told Surveyor: ‘We want to make it easier for travellers to make lower-carbon choices, and make choices which don’t involve travel at all [such as home working and video conferencing].

‘We can achieve this by improving the quality and value of public transport.’

Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker told delegates the challenge for the next government would be delivering improvements in the experiences of all travellers as well as devising a transport policy that cuts carbon.

He said local authorities needed more say in rail services and supported a ‘travel hierarchy’ prioritising pedestrians, cyclists and public transport over cars and air travel.

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