ICE calls for road user charging and 30-year transport strategy

The government needs to use road-pricing to wean the UK population off its car dependency and encourage it onto a co-ordinated, well-funded public transport system - that's the conclusion of an Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) report published today.

The ICE's State of the Nation: Transport called on ministers to introduce a system of road user charging to tackle road congestion after it found that 86% of people it surveyed regarded reducing climate change as 'important' or 'very important' in combating climate change.

It also urged the government to maintain levels of spending on new infrastructure projects, guided by a 30-year transport strategy supported by all political parties.

Alan Stilwell, chair of ICE's transport board told CJ that the government would need to continue to invest in transport infrastructure.

He called for a focus on rail for inter-urban travel including the construction of high speed inter-city lines in the long term, alongside a mixture of rail, light rail and buses for travel within cities.

He said: "Continuing infrastructure investment is really important. One of the issues we think will pop up is that with the current credit crunch, does that mean the government will rein back on infrastructure development? Our argument is no they shouldn't."

"We need a 30-year strategy from either this government or a future government and then within that a commitment to deliver some of the big national transport infrastructure projects as quickly as possible.

"It is difficult enough to get governments to commit even to a 10-year plan. The government produced a 10-year transport plan back in 2000 but that has largely fallen by the wayside. We feel now that transport is being delivered even without a short-term plan."

The report also produced a 10-step plan to cut congestion and reduce CO2 emissions:

• 1) Political consensus on transport strategy.
• 2) A 30-year national transport strategy.
• 3) Integrated transport authorities for urban areas.
• 4) Integrated information on journey times, cost and CO2 emissions.
• 5) Faster infrastructure delivery.
• 6) Integrated travel services and ticketing.
• 7) Public transport capacity and reputation growth.
• 8) Rail freight and short sea shipping capacity growth.
• 9) Changing public behaviour.
• 10) Spending and funding link.