Press Notices
17 February 2003
London charging could lead to radical national change - Begg
London's congestion charging scheme could, in time, result in the most radical re-think ever of the way we pay for road use across the UK, Professor David Begg, Chair of the Commission for Integrated Transport, said today.
"The Government must give the country a lead and stimulate a national policy review of the way we pay for road use. The Prime Minister started the process last week when he talked of defining principles to set the parameters for partnerships between tax funding and personal contributions in areas such as user charges to pay for road use.
"Ministers need to give a lead and the rest of us need to join in and think constructively before traffic congestion gets a stranglehold on the whole economy. The issue is not going to go away. We must confront it and resolve it.
"CfIT has come forward with its own solution which, by focussing motoring taxation on those using the busiest roads at the busiest times, could reduce congestion nationally by up to 44% without either raising a single penny extra for the Chancellor or road users paying more in total.
"It would involve channelling motoring taxation away from VED and some of the fuel duty with the shortfall made up by taxing the miles driven on the most congested roads.
"That means many people can get cheaper motoring while others will get shorter and more assured journey times."
Notes to editors:
1. CfIT's proposals are available in detail on the Commission web site at http://www.independent.gov.uk/cfit.
2. The Prime Minister's comments are taken from "Where the Third Way Goes from Here" at: www.progressive-governance.net.
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