Select Committee on Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Third Special Report

Light Rail

(r)  The Government should carefully appraise light rail projects, giving particular weight to their ability to attract large numbers of people from their cars and to assist economic regeneration. It should make available additional funding for appropriate projects. In particular we recommend that the Government ensure funding is available for cost effective extensions to existing light rail networks (paragraph 106).  

Light rail can have a role to play in delivering integrated transport in urban areas, particularly if planned as part of an overall strategy. However, the capital costs of light rail are very high and more modest guided bus schemes and comprehensive bus priority measures can often deliver similar benefits at considerably less cost. Extensions to existing light rail systems may require less Government funding than new schemes, but they are still expensive and they must be shown to represent good value for money.

Light rail schemes put forward to DETR for funding already undergo very thorough appraisal. These appraisals give considerable weight to the potential for modal shift from car to light rail. The capabilities of light rail to foster economic regeneration are much more difficult to assess and we will be looking at such issues in more detail as part of the New Approach to Appraisal system which will be applied to new light rail and similar public transport schemes.

Light rail, and other rapid transit systems, will continue to be judged on their individual merits. They will now have to be included in local transport plans, ensuring that they are necessary, that all alternatives have been properly considered, and that they are properly integrated into the overall transport plan for the area. Additional funding has been made available for local transport in general, but light rail schemes will only be funded where they are the only realistic solution to a particular problem. Local authorities will be able to use revenues from new road user charging and workplace parking levies for local transport, which could include light rail schemes if there is a convincing case that the benefits outweigh the costs.

Roads

(e)  We welcome the White Paper's realism in shifting expenditure from new road construction to the more effective use and better maintenance of the existing road network. It is essential, however, that the decision not to proceed with a new road in favour of a further study is not used by the Government as an excuse for reducing overall expenditure on transport infrastructure on congested corridors (paragraph 74).

The roads review was a fundamental review of the roads programme. It resulted in a realistic and fully funded list of schemes which are being taken forward. The majority of the 37 schemes will be funded from money provided to the Highways Agency as a result of the comprehensive spending review. Five of the schemes will be taken forward under the Design Build Finance Operate initiative. In value terms this represents a quarter of the targeted programme of improvements.

A programme of multi-modal studies has been established to examine all the options available for dealing with the problems of congestion, environment and safety within the study areas. This will allow transport problems underlying the schemes previously in the roads programme to be considered more thoroughly against the five criteria underpinning integrated transport policy: accessibility, safety, economy, environment and integration. The aim is to develop sustainable and practical solutions to the problems of congested transport corridors, through a full evaluation of all options. We have no preconceptions about the solutions that will be recommended by the studies. However, the studies will have to give consideration to the deliverability, including affordability, of the options. In future, priorities for road improvements will be considered along with other transport infrastructure priorities by the regional transport planning process in the first instance.

 (g)  We approve in principle the White Paper's proposals for 'de-trunking' some trunk roads. Any transfer of responsibility for certain sections of the existing trunk road network from the Highways Agency to local authorities must be accompanied by sufficient funds to ensure that the roads are properly maintained. There should also be safeguards to ensure consistent maintenance and signage standards so that the routes remain part of a coherent network (paragraph 75).

We are committed to ensuring a fair transfer of resources to authorities taking on responsibility for non-core trunk roads. Transitional mechanisms for achieving this for routine and capital expenditure have been agreed with the Local Government Association (LGA). Special grants will provide resources for routine maintenance over the next three years and for capital maintenance through 2 year supplementary credit approvals. During the review of the revenue grant distribution system, there will be discussions with the LGA about how de-trunked roads will receive longer term funding appropriate to their continuing purpose. The review will take place within the next three years, during which time the transitional mechanisms mentioned will be in place.

The Government expects that the majority of the de-trunked routes will remain part of the primary route network and will be signed as such.

Standards of maintenance will be the responsibility of the authorities to whom the roads are transferred. The Government does not intend to set common maintenance standards for de-trunked routes. However, we are working with the LGA on a revised Code of Practice for local road maintenance to promote consistency and best value practices, taking account of the relative importance of routes in the overall road hierarchy.

(h)  We recommend the development of a broad range of performance targets to identify those roads which are not meeting their objectives and highlight where improvement is needed most (paragraph 75).

As part of the Public Service Agreement, the Department and the Highways Agency are developing a system of performance indicators for trunk roads (to be finalised by 1 April 2000). Decisions on priorities for improvements on local authority roads will be a matter for those local authorities. However, decisions on whether improvements take place will need to take account of the costs involved.

Road safety

(ii)  Speeding is a serious problem in the countryside. We recommend that a speed limit of 30 mph or less should be established in all villages, including those on major roads (paragraph 173).

We recognise that traffic speed is a major road safety and environment issue which affects all those who use rural roads and the quality of life in rural areas.

We are currently reviewing speed policy and considering these and wider issues for both rural and urban roads. We expect the review to be completed in the autumn and this will be reflected in the overall road safety strategy.

(ll)  We recommend that a target for road casualty reduction at least as challenging that set in the Netherlands be established: a 50 per cent reduction in deaths and serious injuries by 2010 is an appropriate figure (paragraph 186).

We intend to set casualty reduction targets for 2010 which are both challenging and achievable. We expect to publish the targets in the Autumn, together with a new road safety strategy.

The new target for reducing the numbers of people killed and seriously injured in road accidents (KSIs) will be no less demanding than the previous target set in 1987 for all casualties i.e. no less than a one third reduction in KSI casualties by 2010, compared with the average for 1994-98. We are also considering setting a target to prevent any increase in the total number of casualties. As we develop the package of measures for the road safety strategy, we shall consider whether more challenging targets are possible.

(mm)  We recommend that the Government take the necessary measures to ensure manufacturers are required to design cars in ways which minimise the harm caused to pedestrians and cyclists in the event of a collision (paragraph 186).

The UK has funded research to support the development of a scientific test method for vehicle-based pedestrian protection. A working draft for a Pedestrian Protection Directive is currently under discussion in Europe, and the European Commission is expected to come forward with a formal proposal later this year. The objective of this Directive would be to make the fronts of cars able to absorb energy in pedestrian accidents more effectively, thereby reducing injuries to pedestrians and to other vulnerable road users such as cyclists.

The benefits of such a Directive, in terms of potential casualty savings, are significant. However, this would mean appreciable changes to the detailed design of vehicle fronts and extra costs. The Government is therefore seeking a constructive dialogue with industry. The results of these discussions should enable the Government to contribute fully to the debate in Europe about the proposed Directive.

Road User Charging

(mmm) Reductions in road traffic are required in some urban areas, in particular London, for health reasons to meet air quality standards; how widely they need to be applied elsewhere to meet National Air Quality Strategy objectives will depend on what objectives are set for PM10s. In other areas they may be desirable to address congestion and other environmental problems. The evidence is that significant reductions will not be achieved without powerful disincentives to use cars such as road user charging (paragraph 257).

More stringent vehicle emission standards, achieved through action at EU and national level, will go a long way towards meeting the Government's air quality objectives in many areas. The Government recognises that improved vehicle standards will not take us the whole way towards achieving these air quality objectives; nor will they address the problems of traffic congestion we face or other environmental problems. We agree that measures to tackle traffic growth are also needed and that, in those places and streets where the problems are greatest, absolute traffic volumes need to be reduced. Such measures will improve traffic flow and help to tackle other environmental problems, like noise, as well as contributing to the Government's targets on air quality.

The review of the National Air Quality Strategy bears out the Select Committee's view that additional transport measures will be needed in London, and possibly in other major conurbations, in order to meet the objectives set for NO₂ and particulates in the atmosphere. The current review is assessing both the pollutant objectives and the measures in place to achieve them. Such measures include, for example, the use of low emission zones, road user charging, and/or workplace parking levies. The revised strategy will be published at the beginning of next year.

Local authorities already have specific responsibilities in relation to local air quality management under the Environment Act 1995 and, under the Road Traffic Reduction Act 1997, are obliged to consider setting targets for reducing traffic growth or absolute traffic levels on local roads in their area. They are best placed to determine the package of local measures needed to address the mix of problems in their areas.

(nnn)  Road user charging schemes should be designed, where possible, to include out-of-town and edge-of-town retail and leisure facilities and other major generators of traffic (paragraph 258).

Under the proposed legislation on road user charging, the design of charging schemes will be a matter for local authorities subject to the approval of (or, in due course, guidance from) the Secretary of State. The scheme design will include the geographical coverage of a scheme, and there will be nothing in the legislation to restrict the applicability of charging to certain types of area. The aim of a charging scheme should be to help achieve an authority's transport objectives, as set out in its local transport plan.

(ooo)  Local authorities should be allowed to introduce customer parking charges, where they think it is appropriate. We recommend that schemes for customer parking charges be included in the pilot projects that have already been proposed to evaluate road user and workplace parking charges or are the subject of separate trials (paragraph 259).

The Government has made it clear that initial pilot schemes under the proposed legislation will levy a charge only on workplace parking. We have considered whether non workplace private non-residential parking should also be subject to the charge, but have decided that the pilot schemes should be restricted to workplace parking so that the results can be assessed.

Our preferred approach is to build on the initiatives that some major retailers have already taken to reduce over-reliance on the car, such as supporting local bus services. We believe that significant progress needs to be made by retailers and local authorities, working together. We will ask the Commission for Integrated Transport to assess the effectiveness of this approach before deciding whether other action might be justified. The proposed legislation will provide for the extension of the levy's scope by secondary legislation.

(ppp)  We recommend that the Government guarantee that the income from road user and workplace parking charges be hypothecated to transport spending permanently and in full. The new monies raised must also be additional to existing sources of funding (paragraph 260).

Once the legislation is in place, there will be a pilot phase of local authority charging and levy schemes. The Deputy Prime Minister announced in Breaking the Logjam that pilot authorities will be able to retain 100% of the net revenues from charging schemes for at least ten years from the implementation of a scheme, and that this money will be additional and ring-fenced for spending on worthwhile transport improvements. The actual period of retention will be decided on a case-by-case basis, subject to the minimum of ten years.

Levels of charge should be set with regard to the traffic management effects, rather than in terms of raising a predetermined level of revenue for a specified programme of expenditure. This means that there may, particularly in the longer term, be a mis-match between the revenue raised and the amount of suitable transport expenditure. It will therefore be sensible to review the position from time to time after the initial ten-year period.

(qqq)  Attractive alternatives to the car must be put in place before, or at the same time as, significant measures are introduced to restrain road traffic. This will require substantial investment. We recommend that local authorities be given the ability, subject to the necessary safeguards, to raise money for investment on the basis of the future revenue stream from the new charges, as soon as possible (paragraph 261).

We recognise that local authorities may wish to have transport improvements in before charging or a levy is introduced. Any arrangements will, however, have to ensure that there is no increase in the level of public sector borrowing. We are therefore encouraging authorities to explore the scope for funding transport improvements through the private finance initiative, and our programme of assistance for authorities preparing for early implementation of charging or levy schemes will include advice on securing appropriate financing. Meanwhile we have allowed for large increases in local authority capital spending (£700 million in the comprehensive spending review period) to enable capital expenditure to increase before revenue from the new charges comes on stream.

(rrr)  We urge the Government to examine the possibility of, and means of, charging motorists for use of trunk roads and motorways in order to address the problems of increasing traffic on inter-urban as well as intra-urban routes (paragraph 262).

We agree that in some circumstances transport and environmental objectives could be best achieved by direct charges levied on the users of motorways and trunk roads. This might be used as an incentive to reduce congestion on major roads by getting people on to other means of transport, or to ensure that a local congestion charging scheme operates effectively.

We have therefore proposed in Breaking the Logjam that the Government takes powers to charge on inter-urban roads when the legislative opportunity arises. We are now looking at the responses to that consultation.

We do not expect widespread motorway tolling to be possible without the use of electronic tolling equipment. Building tolling plazas on our major roads is generally impractical. More work needs to be done on the technical options, and we have first let tenders for a major demonstration in England (Leeds) and Scotland (the M8 near Edinburgh) where we can test the technology.

(www)  We welcome the reforms of the company car taxation regime and the exemptions for green commuter plan initiatives announced in the 1999 Budget. We also recommend that the case for taxing workplace parking benefits be re-examined and added to the new measures being proposed (paragraph 280).

We note the Committee's views on company car taxation, and will keep under review the issue of taxing the benefit of workplace parking.

Cleaner vehicles

(ee)  Although the duty differential between ordinary and ultra low sulphur diesel was widened in this year's Budget and the duty on road fuel gases was reduced, we recommend that the Government increases the financial incentives for using alternative fuels and establishes with producers a programme for the development of a network of filling stations (paragraph 165).

The Government is committed to using the fiscal regime to promote its environmental objectives, and in the 1999 Budget increased the differentials in favour of ultra low sulphur diesel and road fuel gases. We are discussing with industry, through the Cleaner Vehicles Task Force, the development of infrastructure for these fuels. We are also supporting the purchase of vehicles running on road fuel gases through the grant-making activities of the Powershift programme, operated for the Government by the Energy Saving Trust.

We will keep these measures under review, to make sure that alternative fuels are promoted, particularly in places where their benefits are most effective.

Cycling and walking

(s)  We consider that the Government's target for doubling the amount of cycling by 2002 and doubling it again by 2012 can be achieved. However, we doubt that there will be any increase in cycling until it is made safer. This will require local authorities to provide an extensive network of segregated and dedicated cycle lanes with particular protection at junctions. We recommend that the Government set up pilot projects to establish such extensive networks. It should make clear that creating cycle lanes by painting white lines on the road are not effective and will not be acceptable. Local authorities should liaise with local businesses to ensure suitable changing facilities are made available for those who cycle to work (paragraph 119).

We agree that in order to achieve the targets in the National Cycling Strategy, local authorities will need to ensure that safety is an integral part of measures to develop the quality and scale of provision for cyclists. The techniques needed to do this already exist and have been tried and tested over many years by the more forward looking authorities. DETR and other bodies issue a range of guidance on this to ensure dissemination of best practice. The guidance on local transport plans makes clear that what is now required is for local authorities to increase the pace of change in favour of high quality and safe provision for cyclists. The Government does not, therefore, consider that a programme of pilot projects is needed.

We agree that simply painting white lines on roads to establish cycle lanes will not, on its own, be effective in improving safety and encouraging cycling. Technical guidance makes clear that provision at junctions, measures on main roads, signed routes along traffic-calmed streets and cycle tracks all have a part to play. We will encourage businesses to improve on-site facilities for cyclists, including secure cycle parking and changing facilities, in particular via the Traffic Advisory Leaflet (TAL) 11/97, Cycling to Work which gives employers advice on how to be cycle-friendly, and through the promotion of green transport plans (see recommendation (iii)).

(t)  The Government must ensure that both walking and cycling are given greater weight in Local Transport Plans than is proposed in the draft guidance. Funding for Local Transport Plans must be dependent on giving priority to effective schemes to increase walking and cycling. The implementation of the plans should be monitored against targets (setting out the proposed increase in these activities) established by each local authority. We are concerned by witnesses' comments about the obstacle they considered to be presented by the culture of traffic engineers and some planners and councillors, which has traditionally given priority to the car. The Government and the relevant professional bodies will need to introduce a major programme of training to address this problem (paragraph 121).

The Integrated Transport White Paper placed great emphasis on the important contribution that walking and cycling are expected to make in an integrated transport strategy. The message is repeated in the guidance on local transport plans. We expect measures to encourage walking and cycling to feature prominently in local authority plans. This will be reflected in the capital allocations to LTPs. LTPs must include a set of indicators for measuring performance against targets which can be used to assess whether the LTP is delivering the stated objectives. This should include realistic targets for growth in cycle usage (consistent with the targets in the National Cycling Strategy) and targets for walking that will contribute to the national aspirations set out in the national strategy to encourage walking.

(i)  The reallocation of road space is essential for promoting alternative modes of transport to the car and will be a vital complement to road user charging schemes. Although reference is made to it, we are concerned that the White Paper does not give it sufficient emphasis. It is essential that bus priority schemes and other measures, including cycle lanes, are carefully designed to be effective and are not undermined by inadequate enforcement (paragraph 76).

We agree that reallocation of road space will have a particular role as a complement to measures designed to reduce traffic demand, such as road user charging. In the absence of such measures, reallocation still has a positive role to play. Advice has been provided in the guidance on local transport plans.

Careful design is important for all traffic management schemes. Where possible they should be designed to be self enforcing, but if they are dependent for their success on enforcement of parking or other restrictions, then the means of enforcement should be addressed from the outset. Local authorities can increase their control over enforcement by taking on decriminalised parking powers (see recommendation (ss)). Police and local authorities can now use new technology for enforcing bus lane violations.

A range of advice is available or in preparation from the Department and other sources on the design of traffic management measures, including facilities for buses, cyclists and pedestrians.

(kk)  Efforts to encourage greater use of less environmentally damaging modes of transport, such as walking and cycling, must be accompanied by measures to improve standards of safety. The Government must insist that local authorities ensure that the needs of the more vulnerable road users are taken fully into account by their designs for new road layouts (paragraph 186).

The guidance on local transport plans makes clear that the Government expects strategies to encourage walking and cycling to be fully integrated with measures to improve safety, including design of road layouts. If either promotion of use or safety is neglected then the aim of safe, sustainable transport will not become a reality. The Department issues a range of guidance on techniques that can be used to ensure safe and convenient provision for vulnerable road users.

Goods and distribution

(d)  We recommend that the development of home delivery strategies be an element of Local Transport Plans. Local authorities should take the lead in promoting these strategies to ensure that retailers co-operate with one another and make the most efficient use of resources (paragraph 60).

Local authorities have an important part to play in helping industry to develop and implement distribution practices that are sustainable. They, together with retailers, will want to examine the potential traffic and other impacts of home delivery schemes in that context.

(dd)  We recommend that consideration, taking into account different local circumstances, be given to the relaxation of delivery curfews in order to improve the efficiency of distribution networks. Any such changes, however, must be matched by the freight industry's introduction of more appropriate ways of delivering goods, including the use of quieter and less polluting vehicles (paragraph 165).

The Integrated Transport White Paper promotes the development of quality partnerships for freight, between the road haulage industry, local authorities and the community. Their aim is to promote constructive solutions to goods distribution which reconcile the need for efficient and timely access for goods and services with local social and environmental concerns. The Government's policy document, "Sustainable distribution: A Strategy", makes it clear we expect local authorities, when drawing up their partnership agreements, to consider the relaxation of delivery curfews where this can be achieved without the increased disturbance of local residents. By means of quality partnerships, local authorities, central Government and industry will promote both the use of cleaner, quieter vehicles and new loading, unloading and handling techniques designed to reduce noise.

DETR

July 1999

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Prepared 13 July 1999