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'Tolls encourage efficiency'
Page 10
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• Charging hauliers to use roads will help make them more efficient, says an influential government transport advisor.
But Dr Denvil Coombe says the arguments surrounding congestion charging are extremely complex and will need to be put across in the right way if they are to be acceptable.
Coombe leads one of several regional study groups which have been commissioned by the government to salve worsening traffic congestion. His team, which covers South and West Yorkshire, predicts that if nothing is done traffic on many sections of the Al and motorways in the region will rise by up to 60% by 2020, while speeds will fall by up to 40%.
The study says that because future transport systems need to be sustainable, no expansion of motorway and Al capacity should be allowed without ensuring that demand for their use is controlled. OF all the measures designed to check road traffic growth, congestion charging would have the most impact and would release "very large revenues which could be used to fund other developments of the transport system".
Many hauliers are adamant that trucks should be excluded from congestion charging. But Coombe, who also advises on intermodal transport studies covering the M25 and the south of Scotland, responds: "Do you think that every journey by every CV is essential and that there is no wasteful or empty running? There is your answer".
• See Comment, page 6.