• The £25 million which the Government spends annually on
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transport research and development is "quite simply not enough", says the House of Lords select committee on science and technology in its transport report.
"More positive support should be given to the development of the surface transport system," says the report. "Transport accounts for up to 20% of the United Kingdom's gross domestic product . . . if the system is not capable of moving people and goods efficiently, the country will be a loser in every sense," The main recommendation of the report is the formation of a top-level Transport Industries Advisory Council, chaired by the Transport Secretary, with representatives from the transport industry, local government, academic research bodies and the Department of Trade and Industry. The council would review transport needs and stimulate new research and development in transport.
The report also recommends: the development of the Transport and Road Research Laboratory into a full-blown national transport research institution serving the country as a whole.