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.
Edmund King, Executive Director, RAC Foundation
The RAC Foundation for Motoring is an independent charity established to promote the environmental, economic, mobility and safety issues relating to use of motor vehicles.
Read Edmund King’s views
It is not surprising that motorists are worried about road pricing. Our way of life depends on the car. We just don’t know how road pricing would affect us.
To avoid future gridlock we need a package including better and safer roads, better public transport, and better management. Traffic growth will continue but car technology and better-designed roads and tunnels can reduce its impact on the environment.
Perhaps we need a voluntary scheme where motorists can opt to join "UK Drive Time" which would give reduced fuel duty, pay as you drive on the most congested roads, congestion avoidance, parking availability and cheaper insurance.
Motorists already pay £44 billion per year in motoring taxes. If the motorist is to be won over, government needs to demonstrate that pricing will be part of the solution to their needs, along with more investment in transport, and not just another means to raise money and price them off the roads. There has to be an open dialogue with motorists, whose support is essential.
Almost 80% of motorists are so anxious about the situation that they want an independent watchdog to stand up for their interests. Nine out of ten do not trust the government to deliver a fair system.
The Government is right to study road pricing as our research shows that motorists accept the principle that it would be fairer to pay for the roads according to the amount of time spent driving in congestion rather than the current system of taxing fuel and vehicle ownership. The RAC Foundation believes the government needs to change the way the debate is presented. Road pricing is not an end in itself but may, in some places, be one element of a package of measures required to give the UK a transport system fit for the 21st century.
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