Press Notices

23.03.04:
Birmingham would benefit from road charging plan, says Begg

"The West Midlands commitment to an imaginative integrated transport system is an exciting one which deserves support. A step change in public transport provision must be delivered as soon as it is feasible.

Birmingham is right to want to make significant improvements to public transport before introducing serious car restraint measures such as congestion charging. However the public need to be aware that public transport alone will not be enough to meet the region's transport and economic needs unless it is supported by congestion charging," says Professor David Begg, Chair of the Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT) on a visit to Birmingham today (23 March 2004).

"Even the best plans for integrated transport will not suffice in the face of a predicted 50% rise in Birmingham's traffic over 20 years. The resulting levels of congestion would have a catastrophic effect on journey times and quality of life - and experience in Munich shows that spending £billions on an excellent public transport network alone does not prevent falling passenger usage."

Time and fuel wasted in traffic jams in the West Midlands currently cost businesses about £2 billion annually. This figure could reach more than £3 billion over the next 20 years.

Traffic flows in the region are second only to those in London, and car ownership per capita is the highest of all metropolitan areas - adding 100 extra cars to the region's roads every day!

People in Birmingham need to start taking the problem of congestion seriously and local authorities can assist them in this process by keeping them more informed. Authorities need to measure and monitor traffic levels in their area as part of their Local Transport Plans, as well as setting out their solutions. That way, local people will become more aware that the congestion problem isn't going to go away and will simply continue to clog up their city unless they support congestion-busting measures being implemented locally and nationally.

At a national level, CfIT is proposing a new method of paying for using roads by moving away from taxation and introducing charges for driving on the busiest roads at peak times.

A GPS-based charging system would generate revenue that would be used to cut fuel duty and end VED. Travellers who planned their journeys carefully would pay less, while those who needed to use the busiest roads at peak times would pay a charge in return for shorter, more assured journey times. Modelling has shown that CfIT's plans would reduce congestion nationally by up to 44%.

"This is the way to provide long-term, sustainable support for the West Midlands economy, which depends so heavily on its trunk road and motorway network. Getting goods to market would become measurably cheaper and more efficient," says Begg.

"Birmingham has already done so much to boost the quality of life in the city centre through adopting sustainable policies such as widespread pedestrianisation, safety cameras, and regeneration around the canal network. Investment and spending plans for the Metro, bus schemes - including priority lanes - and park-and-ride initiatives are impressive, although a lot of rail infrastructure issues remain to be resolved. These and other transport issues need urgent solutions to do justice to the needs of Britain's second City.

"Public transport solutions will need to be in place before we can ask people to change their travel patterns; but public transport alone cannot solve our traffic problems. That's why the Government is currently studying the feasibility of introducing road charging. And that's why they have given local authorities the powers to charge on their local roads.

London has shown that putting a daily value on the benefit of driving on precious road space makes us consider whether our journey is really necessary, whether driving is the best way of making it and if we need to travel at peak times.

Since congestion charging was introduced in London:

• congestion in the charging zone is down 30%;
• car journey times are down 14%;
• journey reliability has improved by 30%;
• accidents are down 20%; and
• the scheme is expected to deliver £80-100 million in annual revenue for transport improvements.

"Just think what these changes could do for Birmingham - more passengers using Metro and more money to pay for it," says Begg.

Notes to editors:

1. CfIT Chair, Professor David Begg, is keynote speaker at the Association of Transport Co-ordinating Officers (ATCO) Memorial Seminar for Martin Robertson in Birmingham today.

2. The CfIT "Paying for Road Use" report is available on the CfIT website at: www.cfit.gov.uk/docs/2002/pfru/index.htm.

3. The CfIT study covered all areas in England and used the same measure of congestion as the Government used for its 10-Year Transport Plan. The results show that traffic levels would fall overall by about 5% and speeds would increase on average by about 3%, with significantly greater changes in areas suffering the worst congestion. The incidence of gridlock would also be expected to reduce significantly and journey reliability would improve.