Date published: 2006/05/12
New Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander has said Cambridge could lead the way in using road pricing to cut urban traffic jams.
In his first major speech in his new Cabinet job, he highlighted the work being done in the city to develop a workable congestion charging scheme.
He told a conference in York:
"We need to explore the scope for developing a national system of road pricing.
"We know that, on paper, road pricing has the potential to cut congestion long-term by nearly half, with only 4 per cent less cars using the road.
"The big challenge is to take road pricing off the drawing board and make it work for road users.
Only a few days on the job and Alexander already knows how to put spin above substance. Road pricing is not meant to "make it work for road users", it is just another tax raising scheme. And if reducing the amount of traffic on the roads by "only 4 percent" cuts congestion by "nearly half" then presumably increasing the amount of capacity by "only 4 percent" would achieve much the same result. But we wouldn't want to do that, far better to screw the motorist (in particular the non-rich motorist, since this is a completely regressive tax).
The Cambridge Evening also says:
Congestion charging has been slammed as a misguided money-making scheme by business chiefs in Cambridge.
New transport minister Douglas Alexander has revealed he is in favour of congestion charging in the city, highlighting work being done on road pricing in Cambridge during his first major speech since coming into office this week.
But John Bridge, Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce chief executive, said: "I'm yet to be convinced. The Government already takes significant tax from motorists through fuel duty and VAT and puts a fraction back in as investment in infrastructure.
"This seems to be another way of getting yet more money out of motorists and businesses, rather than a genuine attempt to solve the problem.
"I have to say Cambridgeshire already has less than its share of investment in return - we all know the A14 is significantly behind schedule.
"While people are pumping their money into shopping developments which will make Cambridge a more vibrant place to live and work, the last thing investors want to see is people being put off coming into the city."
Cambridgeshire County Council has been given ££385,000 to investigate possible schemes, but Coun John Reynolds, environment and community services cabinet member, also reacted with caution to Mr Alexander's enthusiasm for the idea, insisting charging motorists was just one idea for cutting traffic.
He said: "One of the things we will be looking into is what role further demand-management measures, such as roaduser charging, can play in helping us address the traffic issues.
"However, the study will also look into other ways congestion can be tackled, such as better public transport.
"We are looking to build on the successes of our current schemes, which keep Cambridge moving and traffic levels in the city centre down.
"The council has no plans to introduce a London-style congestion charge. The study we are doing will look into a variety of demand management measures that would cost the average traveller no more than it does now."
Coun Jenny Bailey, Cambridge City Council's planning and transport executive member, said road pricing had the potential for freeing up the city's streets, but could go horribly wrong.
She said: "The county has commissioned a study into road pricing in Cambridge and we're all waiting the outcome of that.
Depending on how it is implemented, it could either free-up the roads and help buses and cyclists flow a lot easier and make Cambridge more accessible and attractive, or if the county gets it wrong, it could price people out of Cambridge and nobody will want to go in."
So even some of the usual suspects amongst the car hating Cambridge ruling elite seem to recognise there are problems with so-called congestion charging. But Reynolds is taking the piss when he says that the "current schemes" (i.e. closing roads down and putting in wacky bus lanes) helps "keep Cambridge moving". He has obviously not been in Cambridge recently, since outside the "core" (where cars are all but banned) it is one big disaster area. And Bailey also spouts some nonsense, since cyclists already have no problem getting around (that is, after all, one of the points of being on a bicycle), and Cambridge is no longer really accessible. And the only reason it is attractive is the reason it has always been attractive, namely the university and colleges. Just about anything the city has been responsible for has made it less attractive. There are not that many people who "want to go in" to Cambridge now, never mind in future, but the ruling elite have decreed that all shopping has to be in Cambridge, so people are forced to go there.
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