MPs have called for higher taxes on the biggest polluting vehicles, lower speed limits, action to make public transport more appealing than cars and a national road-charging scheme to reduce carbon emissions.
Members of the Environmental Audit Committee have said that progress to reduce carbon emissions is challenging, but warn that the Department for Transport needs to ‘urgently accelerate its efforts’.
Their report Reducing carbon emissions from transport suggests that the Government ‘deserves praise’ for being the first in Europe to introduce vehicle taxes specifically based on CO2 emissions, but adds: ‘Reforms to vehicle excise duty, however, have been much less impressive, even allowing for the changes announced in Budget 2006.’ MPs propose a gap of £300 between each band, so the top band of road tax would rise to £1,800, while the other bands would reduce from £1,500, £1,200, £900, £600, £300 and eventually nothing.
The report goes on to give ‘strong support’ to the introduction of a national road-user charging scheme, as soon as ‘technically possible’, and backs the formerly-proposed lorry road-user charge as long as the scheme was designed to reduce carbon emissions, not just congestion. It is also highly critical of the Government’s reluctance to lower the motorway speed limit or to rigorously enforce the current 70mph limit because of fears this would prove unpopular with motorists.
‘The Government cannot forever duck the hard decisions in its duties to face up to the “greatest long-term challenge facing the human race,” in the words of Tony Blair,’ the report suggests.
The MPs also call for more ‘London-style’ freedoms for local authorities to decide bus routes and fares, and other public transport issues, but say major road schemes should not be decided at a local level.
The Local Government Association has endorsed the MPs findings.
Tony Page of the LGA’s environment board said: ‘The only way to really tackle pollution from transport is by getting people to leave their cars at home and use public transport instead.’
Rebecca Lush, of anti-road group Road Block, said: ‘We agree with the committee that decisions on road building should not be taken by regional or local politicians, and schemes should be independently audited for climate impacts.’
The report states that in the future, most experts believe transport trends over the next 45 years are not going to be a simple continuation of trends experienced in the UK since the 1960s.
It highlights political pressure pushing the need to reduce carbon emissions and uncertainly over the future price of oil and its sustainability as key factors forcing the Government to look for more alternatives to cars and road building.
: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm2005 06/cmselect/cmenvaud/981/981-i.pdf