“…we have not made any decision about national road pricing. Indeed we are simply not yet in a position to do so. We are, for now, working with some local authorities that are interested in establishing local schemes to help address local congestion problems.  Pricing is not being forced on any area, but any schemes would teach us more about how road pricing would work and inform decisions on a national scheme. And funds raised from these local schemes will be used to improve transport in those areas.”  ( An extract of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s e-mail response to the 1,810,900 signatories to the e-petition ‘to scrap the planned vehicle tracking and road pricing policy’ on the Downing Street website.)

     Whatever your feelings about road congestion and environmental pollution, it is a fact that we all experience it every day on our highways, be it an A road or a   Motorway. But is the motorist to blame for the ever growing congestion, or are there aspects that have been totally taken out of our control?

It’s quite likely that many of the problems we experience here in Nottingham, readers in other parts of the country will recognise, and also some of the solutions that have been implemented to manage the problems.

Like many big cities that have undergone phases of depression, then  revival,  the new wave of prosperity and expansion has attracted new business to Nottingham, and with it comes the demand for modern buildings in the city centre, or the many booming industrial parks which have located to the sites of  former manufacturing industries.

     The site of the former Royal Ordnance factory on Queen’s Drive on the southern edge of the city, is a good example. The site was flattened, and has since been redeveloped to house a new Homebase DIY store, Experian and numerous other buildings all with accompanying parking.

     While it probably employs as many people, if not more than the industry it replaced, transport links are still needed to get employees on site. And it probably is an example of what can be done if thought is given to the problem and then a solution applied.
    : : The nearby Queen’s  Drive  Park and Ride (P&R) during the weekday has a section set aside for Experian employees to park, taking advantage of empty spaces not needed by shoppers Monday to Friday; and with changes to the bus route from the  P&R site they can hop on and off at their workplace. Combining this with a loop system within the city centre, employees living across the other side of the city can use their local bus or tram service to tie into the P&R services.

Unfortunately this ideal cannot be achieved by everyone. The average salary nationally is under £23,000, with many earning much less. While house prices average £184,924 according to The Land Registry for England and Wales (based on the last three months of 2006). The disparity means that workers have to live further away to be able to afford housing, and when the transport services are not as frequent as heavily populated urban districts, then it’s obvious that the car will be the choice of  transport.

     The car will  be cheaper in both time and money, and it will take you from home to work direct. No standing about in the pouring rain while you look at your watch and curse the bus for being ten minutes late, or finding you have to stand all the way once you do get on the bus. That might be an extreme example, but for many it’s reality.

    It isn’t that local authorities haven’t tried to improve traffic flow of public transport. In Nottingham city centre, roads that ran through the middle were choc-a-bloc with traffic; they  have been restricted to all but buses, emergency vehicles and hackney cabs (this doesn’t include private hire taxis that have to join cars in going the long way round). Unfortunately you can be on a bus waiting at the back of a queue with up to ten other buses, all waiting to pull in and drop off passengers at a limited number of stops, and the stops themselves are all within a short distance of one another.

Busy commuter routes have had bus lanes introduced, some permanent, others for use during the rush hour. All they do is reduce the speed of the remaining traffic as two or three lanes become one or two, and the queue stretches further back.

So what does this have to do with road charging ?

It demonstrates, I hope, that changes to the movement of people and goods isn’t something that can be done in isolated stages; you have to realise that each action has an effect, and look at all the possibilities, not just  the most obvious result.And it isn’t always our fault. After all, it’s like a mouse in a maze, cut one route off and they’ll look for another. 

In part 2 I’ll be looking at the current proposals by central Government, and the implications for all of us. 

© Carol Bevitt 2007