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W Mids loses E2bn to jams
Page 12
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Public transport isn't the only answer say Biharn leaders. By Guy Sheppard BUSINESS LEADERS in Birmingham are urging the city council to focus on the needs of hauliers and motorists after research showed the West Midlands loses £2bn a year through congestion.
Delegates told a 'transport summit' organised by the council that promoting public transport was too often seen as the only solution to traffic gridlock.
Brian Summers of the newly formed West Midlands Business Transport Group said: "Business is not anti-public transport quite the opposite. Investment is critical. but it is not the whole answer. "We believe there are many routes to and from the city centre and around it that can flow more freely. This is a physical issue the city can do most about."
Colin Hagan, regional policy manager for the Freight Transport Association, gave a presentation at the summit. Afterwards he said it had been a valuable awareness raising exercise about the importance of road transport and distribution.
Roy Ely. who runs a container haulage firm just off the M6, says: "It's one of the most congested parts of the UK and I don't see anything changing that, least of all the new toll road. To spend £110 per truck per week on it is more than a big chunk of profit; it's the kiss of death for most haulage contractors."
A survey published last week by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that congestion costs UK businesses as a whole £15bn a year.
• New figures show that drivers are molding the M6 Toll Road, with only 37.000 a day using it during the first three weeks of February. Its operators had hoped for between 45.000 and 70,000 per day.