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A price myth

25th August 2005, Page 20
25th August 2005
Page 20
Page 20, 25th August 2005 — A price myth
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

paying.

Congestion? Bad thing. Congestion charge? Not a good thing either... David Harris looks at the confiding arguments on paying for road use.

More or less everybody seems to have a doubleedged attitude to congestion charging. The problem is that both congestion and the charging to curb it are extremely unpopular, which means that the medicine is as politically unpalatable as the illness.

Last week, when Solihull Metropolitan Council considered a new transport consultant's report, the local paper took the opportunity lo run a story asserting that the report "puts Midlands congestion charging plan on the back burner".

The report did indeed say this, but Solihull Council was quick to point out that it had not approved the report, merely noted it. It has no clear position on congestion charging and appeared to be as wary of ruling it out as ruling it in.

And Solihull is not alone. Few councils are now willing to take an unambiguous position on congestion charges, particularly since this year's decisive 74% referendum rejection of their introduction in Edinburgh.

It is likely that Edinburgh's voters resented the payment, seeing it as an extra tax. It may be that they were also unconvinced it would solve the congestion problem. But what is conclusive is that this vote makes it even more unlikely that any other UK city will try to introduce congestion charging. Few politicians are willing to seek a vote on something they think they will probably lose.

Political implications

Chris Welsh,campaign manager of the Freight Transport Association, says: "Undoubtedly one of the reasons why charging has not moved forward in many metropolitan centres is that it is highly politically sensitive."

UK cities where the possibility of congestion has been discussed in the past include Bristol and Leeds, but both appear to have put any charges firmly on hold.

In Bristol. says a spokeswoman, the council "certainly won't be putting anything in place until we have improved public transport".

Meanwhile, the transport strategy of the area is being considered jointly by four councils — Bristol, North Somerset. South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset. But the emphasis is still very much on consultation, even if some suggestions, such as that of Bath and North East Somerset, that it could aim a charge specifically at trucks, have unpleasant implications for operators, In Leeds, where the Off says it has been working with the city since 2001 on an electronic system to charge drivers for using busy roads, a council spokesman is keen to stress that this is only research on the technology and that there is no suggestion it will he used in Leeds "We have no intention of introducing road user charging here," he says.

Leeds. like Bristol, emphasises that any charge would have to be preceded by much-improved public transport.

For the moment, the government appears happy enough with consultation, of which there is plenty, instead of action, of which there is not much outside London.

Transport Secretary Alastair Darling said in June that he would welcome "a mature public debate on paying for road use", a statement welcomed by the Institute for Integrated Transport,alth ough it is hard to escape the conclusion that consultation is delaying congestion charging rather than paving the road for it.

Exemption for freight

From the haulage industry's point of view this may not be a bad thing, even if congestion is a habitual complaint of the truck driver. The Freight Transport Association's view of congestion charging is that it may be a good thing for cars, hut freight traffic should be exempt because it is essential.

It is an argument that will appeal to most operators, but is unlikely to be relevant in the near future. Unless central government takes a much firmer hand on congestion charging, there is minimal likelihood of it happening on any significant scale outside London. •


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