Top transport adviser calls for funds revamp
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• by Dominic Perry The chairman of a government advisory body on transport has called for a radical reappraisal of the way motorists pay to use UK roads.
Professor David Begg, chairman of the influential Commission for Integrated Transport (CM), believes that VED and fuel duty should be lowered but congestion charging and road tolls should be "significantly increased", This is designed to acknovvledge the fact that new vehicles produce lower emissions so there is less reason to tax them to meet environmental criteria.
On the other hand, Begg says that congestion is continuing to grow on the UK's roads. "At some point the government is going to have to come out and give a clear statement on congestion charging: he adds. The government thinks we need to shift more and more of the emphasis onto congestion charging and if that means reducing VED and fuel duty then so be it."
Hauliers would benefit from reduced costs and shorter waiting times, Begg believes, but he warns that no progress will be made if local councils refuse to relax night-time delivery curfews: "There is no point introducing a price incentive not to deliver at peak times if companies still cannot deliver when it's quiet."
Begg was speaking at the Interchange conference in London last week.
A spokesman for the Freight Transport Association says it opposes congestion charging because it penalises hauliers who are providing an essential service, pointing out: You cannot run a shop without a truck to deliver the goods." However, the FTA would support motorway tolls if they brought significant benefits to operators.