UK-wide charges could cut congestion: report

Congestion charges should be introduced nationally and added on top of fuel taxes to help reduce traffic and pollution, according to a report by leading think tank.

In a report published today, the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) argued that if motorists were to be asked to pay more, revenue raised should pay for better roads and public transport and that road tax should be abolished.

The government forecasts that traffic will grow by between 20-25% by the end of the decade due to a combination of falling fuel prices and improvements in fuel efficiency, ippr say.

However, the report claims that if congestion charges were added on top of fuel taxes, it could reduce traffic by 7%, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 8% and increase bus patronage by 11%.

Julie Foley, ippr Transport Research Fellow, said: “Congestion charging could not only help to reduce traffic and cut pollution but also provide a much needed source of revenue for paying for better roads and public transport. Introducing congestion charging will be politically challenging. The government should abolish road tax to help make congestion charging more acceptable to motorists.”

Road transport will be the only sector with growing carbon dioxide emissions, the main greenhouse gas responsible for the human contribution to climate change. Rising road transport emissions could endanger the prospects of meeting the government’s climate change target to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by 2010, the report said.

If a national congestion charge scheme - which added congestion charges to fuel taxes - were introduced by the end of decade it could potentially raise an additional £16 billion per year. National and local government spent about £13 billion on transport in 2002-3 and even with further investments in roads and public transport, they are unlikely to need an additional £16 billion per year. There is therefore room for introducing concessions to the motorist such as abolishing road tax which raised £4.5 billion in 2002-3, the report concluded.

(gmcg)