We asked a number of groups with different points of view to give their opinions on how best to tackle road congestion. These views are their own and are presented here unedited to help inform the debate.
Richard Lambert, Director General of the CBI
The CBI is the UK’s leading business organisation, speaking for some 240,000 businesses that together employ around a third of the private sector workforce.
Read Richard Lambert’s views
It’s difficult to get enthusiastic about the idea of road pricing, but the prospect of continuing growth in congestion is far worse. Following decades of under-investment in our transport system, traffic jams have become a real brake on companies’ ability to get the job done, harming our economy.
We can’t simply build our way out of trouble, though. Charging drivers for the road space they use, at prices that reflect demand in different locations and at different times of day, is therefore likely to form partof the solution.
The benefits are potentially huge - by 2025 road pricing could halve congestion, lifting economic growth and saving firms and individuals huge amounts of time - but it is vital to get the details right.
Road user charging has to be part of a coherent set of measures that give genuine alternatives to those travelling. The Government must not use it simply as a substitute for vitally needed investment in roads and public transport.
The central objective of any scheme has to be to reduce congestion - not to become a convenient revenue-generator. And if more money is raised than is returned through cuts in road tax or fuel duty, it should be treated as additional resources to be spent improving the transport system.
Any scheme must also be kept simple so it is not an administrative headache for drivers and companies.
There is a great deal to be done to gain a greater understanding of how road pricing would work in practice. It is critical that this work continues - and that must include better communication by the Government about why it is contemplating heading down this road and what the benefits could be.
The CBI is the UK’s leading business organisation, speaking for some 240,000 businesses that together employ around a third of the private sector workforce.
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