Transport Policy

Transport policy in Britain is in a mess. Prime minister Tony Blair has admitted that transport is the major area of concern in need of improvement [Local Transport Today, 2002]. Transport affects everyone and everything. It is the glue that binds society and the oil that lubricates the development of the economy. But years of poor planning and under-investment coupled with a dramatic increase in the demand for travel have instead created a system that needs a radical overhaul. From an economic, social, environmental and a common sense perspective, doing nothing is not an option. The demand for transport has increased dramatically (due to the car in particular), yet investment in transport has failed to keep pace. The transport mess needs cleaning up. But from a political perspective, doing nothing is the only option for a number of reasons. Firstly, the lack of investment in the transport system over the last 25 years or so, combined with the dramatic increase in the demand for transport (particularly from the car), has resulted in a huge backlog. The Confederation of British Industry, for example, estimates that £200 billion needs to be spent if the UK’s transport infrastructure is to be upgraded a lot of money which amounts to more than £3,000 per person in the UK (the amount doubles once non-tax payers are removed from the equation). Related to this underinvestment is a severe skill shortage, which means that there are very few people qualified or able to implement the necessary measures even though the money is now becoming available to redress the situation.