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Con tricks on roads money
Page 33
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POLITICAL confidence tricks are being played by the Government which is trying to play off public transport and the rail unions against the roads programme, claimed the British Roads Federation last week.
Speaking in Nottingham, BRF chief economist Shaun Leslie said that subsidies had quadrupled in five years at a time of constraints on the roads programme despite the fact that the roads carry 80 per cent of the country's traffic.
"The Government acts as if public transport support somehow reduces the need for road investment," said Mr Leslie, "but only in the most marginal sense can this be true."he said.
He accused the Government of "wooley thinking" over subsidies and he said there were better ways of helping the disadvantaged than giving concessionary fares.
Transport support achieved few of the purposes claimed for it although there was more justification for rural than urban subsidies and all subsidies should be amalgamated to a single payment for operators of socially necessary but loss-making services, said Mr Leslie.