1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164 
CfIT: Govern men I will fail to deliver
Page 10
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• The government will fail to deliver the majority of its 10year Transport Plan targets set for this decade, according to the Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT).
its assessment report on the plan highlights that while the government seeks to cut congestion by 6% by 2010, it will actually rise by between 11-20%; plans to encourage people to move towards public transport will be undermined by a 20% fall in the cost of motoring.
CflT has called for a radical overhaul of the way motorists pay to use UK roads. it believes that VED and fuel duty should be towered but congestion charging and road tolls should be "significantly increased".
CflT chairman David Begg says that the government has
over-promised and under-delivered: "It has started to increase funding to ease bottlenecks and pressure points, but we need to make sure that the improvements this brings are not quickly swallowed by traffic growth.
"There also needs to be more done in the short-term to combat rising public transport fares at a time of falling motorists costs," he adds.
CflT's review also states that the government will not reach its target for an 80% increase in rail-freight by 2010, and that more action needs to be taken to reduce carbon emissions.
It says that in 2001 HGVs, buses and LCVs contributed nearly 40% of carbon emissions but made up only 12% of the vehicle stock.
In 2002/03, only £1.13m of
grants were paid from the Department for Transport's Clean Up haulage fund for the retrofitting and/or purchase of cleaner HGVs.
• Transport Secretary Alistair Darling is due to unveil a series of road building plans later this week as part of the government's latest plans to beat congestion. Among the schemes that could be given the goahead are the widening of the M42 to make the OK's first 12lane motorway; widening the M25 to four lanes; widening the M1 to four lanes in the south Midlands and part of Yorkshire; and widening the Al western bypass in Tyneside.