Sarah Green column
Apr 10 2007 By Sarah Green, The Journal
As people headed off on holiday for the long weekend, the media was full of stories about congestion, delays and engineering works on the UK's transport network.
Transport operators are invariably caught between the business commuter and the leisure traveller in deciding when to do essential maintenance work on road and rail.
Last week the CBI held an event on Teesside to discuss the region's transport needs, focusing on proposals to introduce road user charging. The CBI has been largely in favour of some form of charging on the grounds that congestion already imparts a significant cost on business and that any revenue generated by charging is put back into the system to provide much needed improvements, including a focus on public transport.
The benefits are potentially huge - by 2025 road-pricing could halve congestion, lifting economic growth and saving firms and individuals huge amounts of time - but it is vital to get the details right.
The two regional pilot schemes being put in place as part of the Transport Innovation Fund in Durham and Tyne & Wear, offer the chance show people how road-user charging can work in practice through real schemes that tackle real congestion problems. The debate has moved on from if, to when, user charging is introduced.
The debate last week highlighted that a one-size-fits-all approach to charging would be the wrong approach, given the wide variation in congestion and public transport provision across the country.
The discussion focused on a need to provide better integrated public transport that really encourages people to move out of their cars and doesn't just include more public transport, but also improved coordination of planning and development and parking policy.
There is real evidence of this happening through some of the new services provided in Gateshead - the X66 and X67 which use a bus-only route along the quayside to dramatically cut journey times from the MetroCentre to Gateshead and Newcastle. Importantly, increased use of public transport also offers massive opportunities for individuals to lower their carbon emissions.
Businesses are increasingly under pressure to put in place travel plans for staff to cut congestion - plus, with technology developments and the increased opportunity to offer flexible working, workers have the option of working from home and cutting their need to travel as much.
Sarah Green is regional director for the CBI in the North-East.
