Annual Report 2001/2002
Introduction by the Chairman
Chapter 1: The Motorists' Forum
Chapter 2: Advising on Specific Topics
Chapter 3: Raising Issues of Concerns to Motorists
Chapter 4: Work in Progress
Annex A: Terms of Reference
Annex B: Other Positions Held by Members' Relevant to the Work of the Forum
The Annual Report has also been made available in Adobe Acrobat format for downloading.
The Adobe® Acrobat Reader® can be freely downloaded.
Viewers with visual difficulties may find it useful to investigate services provided to improve the accessibility of Acrobat documents - www.adobe.com/accessibility/index.html
Introduction by the Chairman
This has been an important year for motorists as issues such as safety, congestion and pollution have been at the forefront of the Government's agenda.
On all these issues, the Motorists' Forum has continued to play a key role in ensuring that motoring and motorists' interests are represented clearly to Government. In doing so, we have ensured that as transport policies are developed, the Government is fully aware of the implications of evolving policy for motorists.
The Forum includes a cross-section of motoring interests from the manufacturer and petroleum industry through to the motoring associations and disabled motorists. It is this variety that gives the Forum strength and enables us to give the Government the considered view of the industry and motorists at large.
In the past 12 months we have reported to Government on a complete range of subjects that affects motorists. These include speed cameras, speed limits, congestion, pollution related matters, MoT Test Issues, car clubs, local authority consultation with the motorist and the Blue Badge Scheme. Forum representatives have served on a number of Government Task Forces, including those looking at car servicing and repair and at-work road traffic incidents.
The Forum has also continued to alert the Government to the issues of concern to motorists. We have, for example, been in the vanguard of raising with Government the need for effective controls to be placed on the largely unregulated nature of utilities' ability to institute street works.
We hope this will help end the frustration that comes from a stretch of road being dug up by one company only for it to be dug up again by another weeks or even days later!
Other issues we have raised with Government include untaxed, uninsured and unlicensed driving, abandoned vehicles, car insurance premium levels, vehicle crime, wheelclamping on private land, greening the Public Sector Fleet, the Motorvate scheme, and the End of Life Vehicles Directive.
I am grateful to the Government for the attention it has paid to the issues we have raised and the opportunity it has given us to make sure that motoring and motorists' interests are fully represented in the Government agenda.
I have no doubt from the Government's own responses that they recognise that the car is an integral and necessary part of modern living and are committed to achieving the safe, reliable and efficient road network that all motorists deserve.
Finally, my thanks go to all members who give so freely of their time in serving on the Forum. Their knowledge and expertise are instrumental in the Forum's success. I should also like to thank the Secretariat for their help in the successful delivery of the Forum's work programme.
We look forward to continuing to work over the coming year in ensuring that motoring and motorists' interests are represented clearly to Government.
Sir Trevor Chinn
Chapter 1: The Motorists' Forum
The Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT) - an independent body advising the Government on integrated transport policy - was asked by the Deputy Prime Minister to set up a group in September 1999 to advise on policy proposals affecting motorists. CfIT subsequently agreed to form The Motorists' Forum and the Forum was launched formally by the Deputy Prime Minister on 31 January 2000.
The Forum looks to ensure that motoring interests and car users' views are represented properly in the development of both Government and local authority policies that could impact on motorists. It works within the conceptual framework of the Government's integrated transport strategy and sustainable development policy but also takes its work forward in the light of the Deputy Prime Minister's statement that the car will remain the dominant mode of transport for personal use.
During its second year, the Forum has continued to play an important role in ensuring that motorists do indeed have a voice in the development of transport policies.
It has continued to act as a useful vehicle for debate with Government on emerging policies - for example, on speed cameras, emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases from cars and congestion measurement. It has also continued to raise issues of concern to motorists with Government where the Forum wishes to challenge existing policy or priorities for action - such as wheel-clamping on private land, street works and incident management.
Full details of the work of the Forum are contained in Chapter 2.
The Forum's Terms of Reference are at Annex A.
Members
Sir Trevor Chinn, the Vice Chair of CfIT, chairs the Forum. Other members are drawn from leaders in their fields from a wide cross-section of the motoring community. Whilst members join CfIT in an individual capacity, members are invited to join the Forum in a representative capacity.
However, Forum members do not just speak for their organisations. As well as being experts in their field, they are also able to bring a strategic understanding of motoring issues and concerns to the table. The Forum is thus able to bring experts together to hear and understand the views of other parts of the motoring world.
The Forum is made up as follows:
Sir Trevor Chinn CVO (Chair)
Findlay Caldwell, Managing Director, RAC Consumer Services, RAC Motoring Services
Douglas Campbell OBE, Executive Director, The Disabled Drivers' Association
Helen Carey DL, Chairman, National Federation of Women's Institutes
John Dawson, Director, Automobile Association Motoring Policy Committee
Sir Christopher Foster, Chairman, RAC Foundation
Chief Constable Stephen Green QPM, Operational Strategic Road Policing Portfolio Holder, Association of Chief Police Officers Roads Policing Business Area
John Lewis, Director General, British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association
Christopher Macgowan, Chief Executive, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders
Tim Matthews, Chief Executive, Highways Agency
Richard Mills, Secretary General, National Society for Clean Air & Environmental Protection
Roger Putnam, Chairman, Ford Motor Company Ltd
Michael Roberts, Director, Business Environment, Confederation of British Industry
Baroness Scott of Needham Market, Vice Chair, Local Government Association Transport Executive
Malcolm Webb, Director General, UK Petroleum Industry Association
Roger Wood, Managing Director, The Automobile Association
Willy Rickett, Director General, Transport Strategy, Roads, Local Transport and Maritime acts as the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) Advisor to the group.
Secretariat:
David Prescott, Secretary to the Forum
Neil Williams, Assistant Secretary to the Forum
Any other positions held by members that are relevant to the work of the Forum are at Annex B.
Over the past year, the following have also represented their organisations on the Forum:
Dr Michael Frend, formerly Director General, UK Petroleum Industry Association
Ian McAllister CBE, formerly Chairman and Managing Director, Ford Motor Company Ltd
Graeme Potts, formerly Group Managing Director, RAC Motoring Services
Colin Skeen, formerly Assistant Managing Director, The Automobile Association
Chief Constable Ken Williams QPM, formerly Chair, Association of Chief Police Officers Road Policing Committee
The full Forum meets in Plenary session four times a year. However, much of the detailed work of the Forum is taken forward by Working Groups. These draw on the experience and expertise of many relevant organisations going well beyond those represented on the Plenary group.
A number of Working Groups have been active over the last year. Details of their work are included in Chapter 2 of this report. The reports drawn up by Working Groups are submitted to the full Forum for consideration before being presented to Ministers.
Chapter 2: Advising on Specific Topics
The Forum has continued to act over the past year as a consultative body for Government in the preparation of its policies on motoring issues. Amongst the matters where the Forum has helped Government to shape its policies are:
Speed Cameras
Speed is an important issue not only because it is a contributory factor in many accidents but also because it directly affects the severity of resultant casualties.
In its comments to Government on the former DETR's new Road Safety Strategy, the Forum supported the installation of road safety cameras at sites that had a bad road safety record. It also acknowledged that properly targeted cameras could be effective in reducing accidents at such sites.
However, in subsequent discussions with Government over speeding related issues, the Forum made it clear that whilst most motorists accepted cameras for road safety purposes, this support dropped off dramatically if it appeared that cameras were being installed for revenue raising purposes. The Forum stressed that it could not support the installation of road safety cameras that were designed to raise revenue and not improve road safety.
In the light of these concerns, the Forum was pleased to see the Government's announcement that as part of the scheme for funding safety cameras by 'netting-off', (i.e. where money collected from fines is re-invested in more cameras), local authority and police partnerships wishing to join the scheme are required to make safety cameras more visible to motorists with much tighter rules before cameras can be approved.
The instructions to local authorities joining the scheme will mean that cameras will in future have to be signed and highly visible to motorists. The rules for joining the scheme will force partnerships to prioritise camera sites and have quantified evidence that those sites have the greatest casualty problems. The rules will also make clear that cameras cannot be located for political or revenue-generating purposes.
Speed Limits
Speed limits are intended to let drivers know the maximum safe speed in good conditions on roads where it is possible to drive faster. Sensible limits should be appropriate both to the location and function of the road and thus the safety of all people who use it. However, badly set or inappropriate limits are often ignored and make drivers less willing to comply with the system generally.
The Government sought the Forum's views on the question of motorway speed limits given that modern cars are safer and more reliable and it is not practicable to enforce the current speed limit everywhere.
The Forum did not seek to provide a definitive answer to the question. Instead, it drew Ministers' attention to the key issues that needed to be looked at carefully.
The Forum recognised that increasing the speed limit to 80 mph could simply lead to people driving at 85-90mph; vehicle operating costs such as fuel consumption, mechanical and tyre wear would increase with speed; and there would be adverse environmental effects at higher speeds. As such, these outcomes tended to militate against an increase.
However, it was also recognised that it was not the actual speed limit that was important but rather the combination of speed limit and enforcement. The important matter was for a motorist to be clearly aware of what was an acceptable pattern of behaviour.
The Government has said it found its discussions with the Forum on this matter helpful and that it will give careful consideration to the issues raised in its deliberations.
Congestion Charging
The Forum has held a series of discussions on the policies surrounding the introduction of road user charging schemes, including a detailed discussion with Transport for London officials responsible for the introduction of the charging scheme in London. These discussions were instrumental in ensuring that all disabled parking badge holders are exempted from the London charging scheme.
The Forum's discussions have been designed to ensure that the various issues surrounding the introduction of road user charging schemes are aired fully.
Car Clubs and Car Sharing
The Forum was asked in the Government's 10-Year Plan "to advise on how to promote car-sharing and car clubs in rural areas".
The Forum, in conjunction with DTLR, commissioned a research project to inform policy development both in rural and urban areas. The work was designed to:
- assess the scope and implications of car-sharing and car clubs for improving personal access to jobs, goods and services.
- identify barriers to further take-up and effective development and recommend measures to encourage further schemes in ways that support the Government's integrated transport and sustainable development objectives.
- consider the implications for minority groups, including young drivers, disabled people and ethnic communities.
The Forum's major conclusions from its work are that:
- Car clubs and formal car sharing schemes are unlikely to be major modes of transport in the near future. Conventional car ownership will remain the dominant mode of travel. Informal car sharing will continue to provide the basis for shared car journeys.
- There are several major barriers to implementation of car clubs - eg reduced independence, reduced status, exclusion of young people, difficulty in accessing parking stations, frustration when no car is available, technological unreliability, irresponsible behaviour of other club members and potential minimal cost savings.
- BUT there is a potential niche role for car clubs and formal car sharing schemes to reduce congestion and improve accessibility in the right circumstances. Identifying these circumstances is crucial to ensuring their long-term survival.
- It is also important to recognise that there are other more established car-based solutions that may be able to deliver significant policy benefits - eg short-term rental and voluntary social car schemes.
- Car clubs are most likely to succeed organically in dense urban areas, where there is good public transport provision and parking constraints. However, the perceived social and environmental benefits of the car clubs concept in urban areas are insufficient at present to warrant a significant injection of public money to support individual projects without further research.
- There is, however, considerable potential in establishing car clubs in high-density urban areas where these are linked to new developments in which parking is restricted.
- Car clubs in rural areas with low population densities are unlikely to be viable long-term. BUT the results of pilot schemes being funded by the Countryside Agency need to be considered before definite conclusions are established.
- The best prospects for formal car sharing are in 'closed' communities eg companies or universities. Travel plans have an important role to play encouraging car sharing in these closed communities.
- Car sharing schemes - especially those using volunteers as drivers - also have a potential significant role to play in rural areas.
We have recommended to DTLR that:
- they should fund a research programme to monitor developments in this area (both in the UK and Europe), evaluate the performance of UK-pilot projects and undertake further analysis; and
- in the light of this research, DTLR should review the wider role for car clubs and formal car sharing schemes by 2004 to inform the next round of Local Transport Plans and any revision of national planning guidance.
Local Authority Consultation with the Motorist
The Forum set up a Consultation Working Group to look for ways to improve local authorities' consultation with motorists. This arose through a concern that whilst other forms of transport users, such as cyclists, walkers and public transport users, have active and well organised groups representing their interests at a local level, motorists have no such organised voice to speak on their behalf. Effective consultation ought to ensure that as far as possible, everyone, including motorists, feel that they have had an opportunity to express their views and that their interests have been taken into account.
The work of the Group was restricted to looking at the informal consultation to be conducted by local authorities in the pre-decision phase as distinct from formal consultations in connection with draft Orders. The Group's work was also geared specifically to ensuring that motorists had an opportunity to feed their views into the consultation process as Road User Charging and Workplace Parking Levy schemes are proposed.
The Group produced a report that was designed to provide authorities with an opportunity to test the consultation process they are adopting against a set of guidelines devised especially with the motorist in mind. It set out advice on how local authorities should identify motorists affected by the proposals being consulted on, the best way to communicate with this group, the range of techniques available to local authorities to conduct such consultation and how the results of the consultation should be analysed.
In response, the Government has supported the importance of good consultation and confirmed that before any local road user congestion charging scheme is approved, they will want to be satisfied that the local authority has consulted properly with those who will be affected.
The Government has also said that the Forum report will offer helpful advice to authorities on how to reach those motorists who are likely to be affected by a local road user charging scheme. They have also asked the Forum to include the report on its website as good practice guidance that authorities could follow when consulting motorists.
Air Quality
The Forum has continued to explore with Government the role that the automotive industry and motorists should play in helping to tackle local air quality.
The Forum submitted an initial paper to Government on this matter in March 2001. Our paper drew attention to the fact that air pollution from cars has fallen considerably since the beginning of the 1990s despite traffic growth due to the enormous progress that has already been made over the last two decades in improving both engine technology and fuel quality. However, it also acknowledged that there would be a need to establish around 100 Air Quality Management Areas and suggested ways in which problems might be tackled in these areas.
Subsequent to this, the Forum obtained detailed information from DTLR on the contribution that road transport, including cars, is making to air pollution. Although this information suggests that the large number of cars relative to other types of vehicles means that cars are still responsible for contributing to PM10 and NOx emissions - a basic assertion the Forum does not contest - a closer examination of the emission figures reveals an interesting picture.
In 2000, about 35% of total PM10 emissions from road transport (and just under 30% of total NOx emissions from road transport) came from just 500,000 lorries and buses. In other words, lorries and buses, which represent less than 2% of the vehicle fleet on the road, are emitting about a third of PM10 and NOx emissions from road transport. On this basis it is clear that lorries and buses cause a disproportionate amount of air pollution.
The Forum is clear that the automotive industry must continue to play its part in helping to improve air quality. However, the Forum also believes that attention must be focused on tackling the emissions from lorries and buses (and also diesel taxis) in Air Quality Management Areas. Indeed, the Forum believes that improving the emissions performance of these vehicles offers a huge quick win in the improvement of air quality.
In response, the Government has drawn attention to the number of grants it has introduced that are designed to reduce air pollutants from buses, lorries and taxis. However, the Forum understands that the take-up of these grants has been slower than expected and will continue to explore with Government how the take-up by hauliers and bus companies might be speeded up.
Climate Change
The Forum has also continued to look at the question of greenhouse gas emissions from road transport.
The Forum submitted an initial paper to Government on this matter in March 2001. Our paper drew attention to the fact that whilst the Forum was keen to try to identify further sensible measures that could abate car emissions further, technological advance had already ensured that CO2 emissions from cars did not grow throughout the 1990s. Indeed, they are forecast to fall as a result of the landmark EU/ACEA agreement.
Subsequent to this, the Forum has received further detailed information on greenhouse gas emissions from road transport. One statistic that has already emerged from this work is the fact that Light Goods Vehicles (LGVs), Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) and buses are contributing a disproportionate amount to the CO2 emissions from road transport. For example, in 2000 nearly 40% of CO2 emissions from road transport came from LGVs, HGVs and buses despite these vehicles constituting only about 12% of the vehicles on the road.
In order to help the Forum come to a reasoned judgement on the part road transport is playing in the growth of greenhouse gas emissions, we have requested further advice on the latest estimates of CO2 emissions in 2020 across other sectors eg power stations, refineries, residential, industry and estimates of the CO2 emissions in 2020 for each individual segment of the transport industry (eg road, air, shipping, rail).
The Forum has recommended that once this information is established, cost benefit analyses should be carried out on the action called for within each sector and transport mode. Once the relevant merits of the various cost-benefit frameworks have been established, action should be concentrated on those areas offering the best value for money.
Finally, the Forum has brought to Government attention the shift in car registration statistics towards diesel cars and those in the lower VED bands. This is an important factor in ensuring that the Government's forecast car CO2 emissions reflect current sales trends.
MoT Test Issues
The Forum was asked to consider the feasibility of extending the date of the first MoT test for cars to 4 years following registration and whether motorists should be required to display a MoT windscreen disc on their vehicle windscreens.
On the question of extending the date of the first MoT test, the Forum commented that it was difficult to make an objective judgement in the absence of statistics relating to the defects found in three-year-old vehicles. However, it was recognised that the MoT test ensured that key safety items such as brakes, tyres, steering and lamps, as well as emissions, were tested.
In the light of this and because there was no clear argument or pressure for change, the Forum recommended that the existing requirement of testing from year 3 and then annually thereafter should be retained (although this should be subject to review following MoT computerisation in 2004).
On the question of whether motorists should be required to display a MoT windscreen disc, the Forum recognised that planned improvements to the quality and use of the centrally held information on vehicles should help deal with MoT evasion. Nevertheless, the Forum felt that the display of MoT certificates would be welcomed by conforming motorists and asked Government to explore the matter further.
Blue Badge Scheme
The Forum set up a Blue Badge Working Group to consider the changes to the Blue Badge Scheme set out in the DTLR discussion paper on this matter.
Essentially, the Group recommended eligibility for Badges should be restricted to those in greatest need and that steps should be taken to tackle the perceived abuse of the Scheme. Among the key recommendations made by the Group were:
- if eligibility was tightened, existing badge holders should have Grandfather Rights
- administration of the scheme should be undertaken by a third party rather than local authorities (provided a degree of local involvement remains)
- the Scheme should be extended to Central London
- local authorities should have prime responsibility for enforcing the scheme and that the police should not be involved in the process
The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee is currently considering the results of the consultation and will make recommendations to Government on how to take the Scheme forward.
Enforcement of Vehicle Emissions Regulations by Local Authorities
The Forum was originally consulted in February 2000 by the former DETR on the options to extend local authority roadside emissions testing. The Forum produced a detailed response that included a number of recommendations aimed at ensuring that both actions and penalties should be focused on the more heavily polluting vehicles and that any extension of the scheme should be made motorist-friendly.
The Forum was consulted again in October 2001 on DTLR's formal proposals to extend the roadside emission testing powers to local authorities in England that have designated Air Quality Management Areas. The Forum was pleased to note that the majority of its original recommendations had been represented favourably in the revised proposals - in particular, that motorists who could provide evidence of having taken all reasonable steps to maintain the emissions performance of their vehicle would have their penalty waived if they remedied the defect. The Forum was therefore broadly supportive of the emissions-testing proposals.
DTI Car Servicing and Repair Task Force
A Forum representative has continued to serve on the DTI Task Force that is looking to improve standards of car servicing and repair for consumers.
The Task Force reported in September 2001 and recommended a number of measures designed to address poor standards in car servicing and repair. These included:
- a "good-garage" scheme, industry-led with new minimum standards, to be market-tested
- stronger trade association codes of practice
- advice for consumers visiting a garage
HSE Work Related Road Safety Task Group
The Forum has contributed to the study the Health and Safety Executive undertook into work-related journeys that expose workers and/or members of the public to risks from vehicle accidents.
The Forum welcomed the action the Government has taken in examining how companies' driving policies can be influenced to help prevent at-work road traffic incidents. There was agreement with the central proposition of the HSE work that employers should manage at-work road risk in the same way as they do other health and safety risks within the workplace. The Forum therefore supported the broad approach set out by the Task Group that the existing Health and Safety law should become relevant to at-work road journeys.
The Forum support did, however, come with two major caveats. Firstly, we asked that bureaucratic requirements should be kept to the absolute minimum, particularly in respect of the reporting requirements of incidents. Secondly, we considered it imperative that the requirement that drivers should remain responsible for their own and others safety on the roads should not be undermined.
The Forum welcomed the fact that these important principles were recognised in the Task Group's final report and are keen to support Government action in taking forward its recommendations to help reduce road accidents involving people at work.
Rural Road Hierarchy
The Forum was represented on the DTLR Working Group looking at developing a hierarchy of rural roads for speed management purposes.
The Working Group, and the previous DETR Speed Management Review, identified the need for more information before the case for lower rural speed limits could be adequately assessed. DTLR have undertaken to build on the recommendations from these two groups in conjunction with other work in hand and planned arising from the Road Safety Strategy to develop better speed management measures for rural roads.
Chapter 3: Raising Issues of Concerns to Motorists
Untaxed/ Uninsured/ Unlicensed Driving
The current levels of driving without tax are estimated at 4% of cars and up to 25% of motorcycles. The associated loss of tax is estimated to be some £185m per annum. The incidence of driving without insurance is estimated at between 4% and 6% which imposes a cost of around £30 a year on the premiums of conforming motorists. Little is known about the levels of driving without a valid licence.
The Forum has pressed the Government to target its enforcement activities on those who drive untaxed, uninsured or unlicensed and to take steps to ensure that the prevalence of such driving is reduced.
The Forum welcomes the action the Government is looking to take to address the problems of untaxed, uninsured and unlicensed driving. It supports changes to the system, which reduce the opportunities to step outside the law without imposing an oppressive regime on the law-abiding motorist.
The Forum will continue to monitor Government action in this area to ensure that a publicly acceptable strategy to tackle these issues is introduced.
Abandoned Vehicles
The Forum recognised the growing problem of abandoned vehicles. (In some areas the number of vehicles abandoned has more than tripled and in 2000 it was estimated that as many as 350,000 cars were dumped). It welcomed action to make the removal process easier for local authorities to adopt.
Car Insurance Premium Levels
The Forum has looked at the question of why car insurance premiums appear to be rising significantly, how the impact on motorists can be limited and whether there are any other steps the Forum could help initiate which could help reduce the costs of insurance premiums.
The Forum has held discussions with the Association of British Insurers on this matter. It is clear that there are no easy answers to this problem but the Forum remains concerned that there is a need to think of ways of providing insurance for high-risk groups and to think through the implications of forcing drivers off the road that are unable to afford insurance.
Vehicle Crime
The Forum has continued to look at ways in which it can help the Government meet its target of reducing vehicle crime by 30% by March 2004.
One suggestion emanating from the Forum is that data from the New Car Security Ratings Scheme could be displayed on a car windscreen sticker to a prospective buyer. The Forum will continue to explore whether this initiative can be pursued.
Nationally, over 30% of all car crime occurs in car parks. In response, the Forum looked at whether it was possible to aid the development of the system of Secured Car Parks. The Forum advised that more publicity should be given to the existence of such car parks but also drew attention to the reductions in crime that occurred in car parks when manned security was in operation.
Extension of Consumer Law to Include Car Parks
It is the view of the Forum that car park operators should accept more responsibility for the safety of their customers and the security of vehicles parked on their premises. In the light of this, the Forum has asked Government to have car parking brought within the scope of the Supply of Goods and Services Act.
The Forum believes that such a move would open the way for car park owners who have not provided adequate security measures to be held legally liable for compensation where the motorist can show that necessary precautions, such as locking the vehicle and removing goods from view, have been taken. It would also encourage car park operators to improve security standards to a level that would allow them to apply for 'secured car park' status - thereby meeting one of the objectives in the Government's 5-year strategy in tackling car crime.
We are disappointed that, so far, Government has felt that this change would not be in consumers' interests.
Wheelclamping on Private Land
The Forum has continued to draw to the Government's attention the need for the excesses of wheelclamping on private land to be curbed. We hope that the setting up of the Security Industry Authority will help to reduce these excesses and we look to the Government to set up the Authority and introduce a licensing system for wheelclampers at the earliest opportunity.
Street Works
The Forum has also continued to raise with Government the need for appropriate steps to be taken to tackle the disruptions arising from street works and for effective controls to be placed on the largely unregulated nature of utilities' ability to institute street works.
The Forum believes that the introduction of lane rental (a system whereby highway authorities can levy a daily charge on utilities for each street works which the latter undertake) is the only way to achieve increased co-operation between undertakers, and thus tackle the disruption arising from street works. Accordingly, the Forum supported regulations being introduced enabling lane rental pilot schemes to be operated in Middlesbrough and the London Borough of Camden.
We will be watching the outcome of these pilot projects closely.
Greening the Public Sector Fleet
Following on from its work on air quality and climate change, the Forum has continued to press Government to take the lead in greening the car fleet by ensuring that its own fleet comprises clean and fuel efficient vehicles. This will not only help reduce emissions from the Government fleet but will also encourage other public and private sector fleets to follow suit.
In this respect, the Forum is pleased to note the action Government has taken to encourage this development. However, the Forum believes more can be done and to this end is currently working with DTLR to try to ascertain the size of the overall public sector fleets. Once this is established, the Forum will look to ensure that Government is aware fully of the benefits that would accrue from ensuring these fleets comprise of clean and fuel efficient vehicles.
Motorvate
Motorvate is a DTLR scheme designed to help companies cut their fleet travel costs, and at the same time, help the environment.
The Forum remains committed to playing its part in helping develop this initiative (the CBI and LGA representatives on the Forum have been looking at how they might promote the scheme through their respective networks) and will continue to watch carefully how this scheme is developed.
End of Life Vehicles Directive
This European Directive provides for producers to pay all or a significant part of the costs of free take-back of no/negative value vehicles to a treatment facility by 2007.
During Government consultation on the above Directive, the Forum raised concerns that UK manufacturers might be obliged to take responsibility for recycling vehicles manufactured before July 2002 before similar conditions were imposed on their European counterparts.
In response, the Forum has been assured that the Government intends to implement the Directive with a view to maintaining a broadly level playing field with other Member States. We will watch developments carefully.
Chapter 4: Work in Progress
Congestion Measurement
The Commission for Integrated Transport asked the Forum to:
- look at how motorists perceive congestion
- assess DTLR's proposed criteria for measuring/reporting changes in congestion
- see whether the proposals could be made more meaningful to motorists.
A Congestion Measurement Working Group was established to take this work forward. The Group's Interim Report was published in December 2001. In the light of DTLR's recognition that its chosen definition was not intuitive and that there were alternative, albeit imperfect and problematic, ways of measuring and expressing congestion, the Group's tentative conclusions were that:
- the DTLR choice of indicator (average delay per vehicle kilometre) was broadly sound but limited
- there were five general ways in which the DTLR indicator was not sufficiently meaningful to motorists
- there were six possible sets of improvements which would be desirable, covering the ways in which congestion is measured and expressed
- the possible improvements appear technically feasible, but the costs and benefits associated with them are not yet known
- there were a number of possible next steps to follow.
Plenary members of both the Forum and the Commission for Integrated Transport endorsed the Group's Interim Report. The Group was then asked to take its work a stage further. The Group is currently looking at the feasibility of providing the public within the short term (next 2/3 years, but ideally earlier) with an effective measure of journey time reliability on the strategic and non-strategic road network, and considering what needs to happen (including action by Government, where relevant) to bring this about.
Incident Management
An Incident Management Working Group - comprising representatives from the Forum, DTLR and the Highways Agency - is looking at ways to improve the speed at which the effects of serious incidents on the primary route network are cleared.
The Highways Agency has commissioned a study into the management of incidents. The study aims to gain a better understanding of the processes involved in incident management and to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the different organisations that contribute. The findings will form the basis for a series of short and long term recommendations intended to streamline incident control.
Use of the Hard Shoulder by Accredited Breakdown Recovery Vehicles
Following discussions on this matter at the Incident Management Group, DTLR has set up a group to examine a request by breakdown operators to allow accredited breakdown recovery vehicles to use the hard shoulder as a running lane following notification of an incident.
This work will continue to be taken forward in the forthcoming year.
Other matters
The Forum has also been asked by DTLR to look at a number of issues to help assist future policy formulation.
These issues include:
- looking at how driver awareness about road safety issues can be raised and how driver behaviour can be influenced
- advising on ways to improve the effectiveness and clarity of communication with motorists when driving
- advising on how motorists with reduced abilities can be kept mobile without being a danger to themselves or other road users
- exploring the general question of driver refresher training.
The Forum will be reporting on these issues later in the year.
Annex A: Terms of Reference
Working within the framework of the Integrated Transport White Paper and of Government's sustainable development strategy, and recognising that for the foreseeable future the car will be the dominant mode of personal transport in the UK, the Motorists' Forum will:
- seek to establish a consensus of motorists and the motor industry with the Government in regard to the role of the car in our society;
- co-ordinate and represent to Government the voice of the responsible private and business car user;
- seek to ensure that the use of the car continues to develop in a manner which takes account of concerns for the environment, safety, and social inclusion;
- advise on how far the car fits into the integrated transport strategy and how the integration process can be further developed to offer motorists realistic alternatives to the car;
- advise on the development of policy issues by Government and its agencies, and by local government, relating to transport or affecting the motorist, so that they relate to motorists in an understanding way;
- advise the Government in regard to new technology which can be used inside and outside the car to help achieve these goals;
- advise the Commission for Integrated Transport on issues affecting the motorist.
Annex B: Other Positions Held by Members' Relevant to the Work of the Forum
Sir Trevor Chinn CVO
Directorships: Lex Service PLC; ITIS Holdings PLC. Other: Trustee of the RAC Foundation for Motoring; Vice Chair of the Commission for Integrated Transport.
Findlay Caldwell
Directorships: RAC Motoring Services; British School of Motoring Ltd. Other: Member of the RAC Foundation Public Policy Committee.
Douglas Campbell OBE
Directorships: Douglas Campbell Consulting Ltd; Mobility Roadshow Ltd. Other: Trustee of Mobility Choice; Trustee of Forum of Mobility Centres.
John Dawson
Managing Director, AA Foundation for Road Safety Research; Director, ERTICO; Chair of the European Road Assessment Programme; Chair of the World Motoring Organisations Traffic Commission; Vice Chair of the BRF; Member of the Independent Transport Commission; Trustee, Air Ambulance Association; Trustee, FIA Foundation for Automobile and Society; Vice President FIPIC (International Federation for Carbon Sequestration).
John Lewis
Member of Cars QA Governing Board; UK Representative on European Car & Truck Rental Association.
Christopher Macgowan
Member of the Vehicle Crime Reduction Action Team; Member of the Road Haulage Forum.
Tim Matthews
Chair of the National Road Users Committee; Chair of the National Environment Committee; Member of the Commission for Integrated Transport.
Richard Mills
Director General of the International Union of Air Pollution Prevention & Environmental Protection Associations; Chair of the Environmental Analysis Co-operative.
Roger Putnam
Chairman, Ford of Britain Trust; Director, Jaguar Switzerland; Director, The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders; Member, CBI President's Committee.
Michael Roberts
Non-Executive Director, The Carbon Trust; Advisor to the Commission for Integrated Transport.
Baroness Scott
Member of Suffolk County Council; Member of the House of Lords; Member of the Commission for Integrated Transport.
Roger Wood
Directorships: Centrica PLC; AA The Driving School Agency Ltd.
