News

The fact that the country's roads are struggling to cope with the sheer volume of traffic trying to use them is well known. As is the fact that the time spent sitting in queues is bad for business, as well as drivers' stress levels. So it comes as no surprise that a report by think tank Policy Exchange into the UK's transport infrastructure found that  the roads we all depend on are "not fit for purpose". As a result congestion is costing the economy £20bn a year, the report warns.

In fact it says the UK's roads are so poor that they are near the bottom of the international league table. The UK has fewer kilometres of motorway than other European countries with comparable populations. Spain, France and Germany all have motorway networks that are more than twice the size of the UK's. The report points out that very little extra capacity has been added since 1995, despite obvious gaps in the network - and when new roads are built they often have more to do with politics than congestion.

But this lack of investment in transport infrastructure is not because of a lack of revenue - road users pay £32bn a year in taxes, but the government only spends about £8bn of that on the roads. The report suggests that road pricing could help alleviate the problems of congestion by forcing road users to take the value of their time into  account. It says relatively small charges could soon pay for huge improvements to the infrastructure. For example, a six-hour, peak-time weekday charge of 5p/km for cars and light vans and 10p/km for LGVs on all major roads could raise more £25bn, it predicts enough to build 1,200 miles of six-lane motorway. This equates to doubling the size of the motorway network within two years.

However, the report also warns that public distrust of road charging might make it difficult to introduce from a political standpoint. Instead, it says, private finance could be used to build new roads - the constructors would then charge tolls to recoup their investment. Geoff Dossetter, director of external affairs at the Freight Transport Association, says the FTA agrees that the UK's roads are not fit for purpose, adding that this is "economically and socially unacceptable". He also agrees that something needs to be done now, but adds: "We are supporters of road pricing but the report recommends that road pricing is an additional taxation rather than a replacement taxation, which is the FTA's suggestion.

"We have always felt road pricing is a possible scenario for managing congestion and it could be a helpful tool in reducing fuel duty for truck operators." However, he points out: "This time last year the Downing Street petition against road pricing attracted 1.8 million votes and therefore the actual process of introducing road pricing would be extremely difficult." The Road Haulage Association is less convinced that road pricing is the answer to the congestion crisis. It argues that tolling to cover the cost of new or improved roads is the only way road charging will work.

Director of policy Jack Semple says: "If the Treasury cannot afford [to invest in new roads and upgrade existing roads] then it makes sense to involve private finance to fund that extra capacity and therefore those building the roads should have the opportunity to recover their costs through tolling." RHA chief executive Roger King adds: "Road pricing is an unproven tool to control traffic flow and it should not be seen as the panacea. I'm not sure you can put a price on mobility and certainly not on CV traffic, which has to travel on the roads at the times required to meet customer needs."

A Department for Transport spokesman says: "The government is committed to tackling congestion and is making record investments in transport. This year we will spend around £900m on improvements to major roads, including improvements to the M1 and M25. "However, we know we cannot simply build our way out of congestion. That is why we are working to get more from our existing roads through innovations like active traffic management, Highways Agency traffic officers and by providing better information to road users." The spokesman adds that road pricing, backed up by public transport improvements, has the potential to cut predicted congestion growth by nearly half: "That is why we are working with local authorities who want to develop local schemes and exploring pricing as a concept."