Business calls for more roads

Road pricing seen as inevitable though

By PH Staff / Friday, 6 January 2006 / Loading comments

Britain's creaking congested roads

More investment in roads as well as rail is being called for by British businesses -- and the Government is being warned that if this doesn't happen, Britain will pay a high price. However, road pricing is cemented into the plan.

The CBI, in its submission to a long-term review of the UK's transport infrastructure, conducted by former BA boss Sir Rod Eddington, argues that Britain is suffering from 30 to 40 years of underinvestment in transport that holds the country back. According to today's FT, Eddington himself has said that the UK had "nearly reached that point of no return" where its infrastructure was so bad it deterred foreign investment.

The cost of this lack of investment has been estimated at £20 billion -- and that's just the time lost in congestion.

However, Eddington said that, although he has come under no government influence -- "I have been given a blank sheet of paper" -- his report is likely to assume that some form of road pricing will be in implemented. That'll happen in the next 10 to 15 years, the timescale his report will cover. Eddington said he saw this development as inevitable because it was an issue of demand management, not just for roads but other transport infrastructure such as ports and airports.

Will it happen though? Some argue that over-radical proposals will prove politically sensitive -- especially at a time when the Government is suffering in the opinion polls. So if we don't like it, we need to stand up and say so...