“The government must speed up its plans for introducing road pricing”, warns a new report from the CILT(UK). It has said that it welcomes the government’s commitment to road pricing as being the only effective way to tackle congestion. However, it says the timescale for tackling what it calls the “serious and growing problem” of road congestion is “frustratingly slow”.
The CILT(UK) says that it considers road pricing a ‘must have’ to support future economic growth and says that studies suggest that an effective regime would cut congestion by two-fifths and yield time savings and other economic benefits worth £10-£12bn per year.
Jim Coates, chairman of CILT(UK)’s Road Capacity and Charging Forum, said:
“Transport Secretary Alistair Darling was right to take the bold decision to begin a national debate on road pricing last year, but we risk losing the momentum on this initiative. The timetable he has mapped out for desktop studies in seven areas is frustratingly slow.
“This cannot be of greater importance to the UK economy – cutting congestion through road pricing could save businesses and individuals £10 to £12bn per year. We need to move beyond ‘if’ on road pricing, to ‘when’”.
