Press Notices
17 March 2003
Demand management framework needed alongside investment, says CfIT
The Commission for Integrated Transport today advised ministers that, in taking forward the recommendations of the Multi-Modal Studies (MMS), some form of demand restraint, alongside investment in the transport networks, would be necessary to deliver sustainable, long-term benefits for users. The Commission believes that a national system of road user charging will be the most effective way to deliver and maintain congestion relief and improved journey reliability into the longer term.
In addition to demand management, the Commission identified 4 other issues critical to successful delivery of schemes - land use planning, appraisal, funding and institutions.
The Commission's report on delivering the MMS outputs highlighted that:
- the role of congestion charging after 2011 needs to be clarified in deciding how to implement the MMS recommendations. Such decisions will be needed by next summer when the review of the 10 Year Plan for Transport is expected;
- well-designed demand management measures will be essential alongside investment to delivering lasting service improvements;
- the land use planning system is not only fundamental to the effective prioritisation and development of MMS recommendations. It will also have an important bearing on the speed with which schemes are eventually implemented;
- the proposals emerging from the MMS studies pose some real challenges for appraisal in developing schemes that are robust in terms of sustained improvements and value for money. This applies both to road and rail schemes;
- if MMS recommendations exceed the 10 Year Plan funding provision, there will need to be an element of prioritisation. Resources should be shifted, within the 10 Year Plan funding totals, to reflect different patterns of spending resulting from the MMS recommendations than that envisaged in the plan;
- recommendations for expenditure beyond 2010/11 will need to be considered as part of the roll forward of the plan in 2003/04;
- significant levels of revenue funding (including additional allocations of revenue funding) will be needed to provide ongoing support for public transport schemes and to fund 'soft' measures such as green travel plans;
- monitoring the effect of the Single Capital Pot on local authority spending profiles will be essential in relation to resources allocated through the Local Transport Plans (LTP) process to transport ;and that
- arrangements will be needed to ensure that agencies responsible for delivering elements of the MMS packages work together effectively to realise the full benefits of individual schemes, whether rail, road or other.
CfIT chair, Professor David Begg said: "The Government has to reach a view on demand management in its review of the 10 Year Plan, particularly the long term role of charging, to allow the Highways Agency and local authorities to plan and implement highway improvement schemes effectively. In the absence of effective measures to control induced traffic, it is difficult to see how the benefits associated with widening in terms of reduced congestion and improved reliability can be sustained into the longer term."
"Demand management is a nettle that has got to be grasped. There has been a sea change in attitudes since congestion charging was introduced in London. Even the fiercest opponents of demand management are changing their views in the face of the visible benefits that are being delivered."
"Transport changes take time to implement. Planning needs to start now for transport improvements beyond 2010, but sensible decisions can only be taken by those charged with delivery, within a clear policy framework."
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