Archived press release

Government transport plan must tackle traffic crisis

19 July 2004

Leading environment and transport groups today called on the Government to have the political courage to put long-term sustainability at the heart of UK transport policy. The Department of Transport is due to announce its revised 10 year transport plan tomorrow (Tuesday).

The groups - Friends of the Earth, Transport 2000 and the Campaign to Protect Rural England - fear that Government transport policy will lead to more road-building, more pollution, the destruction of more countryside and increases in carbon dioxide levels, the main gas contributing to climate change, the biggest environmental threat the planet faces.

Friends of the Earth's transport campaigner Tony Bosworth said:

"The Government's must seize this opportunity to steer transport policy in the right direction.We cannot continue to accommodate ever-increasing traffic levels. Ministers must reject road-building `solutions' and provide motorists with real alternatives to the car. Government transport policy should focus on the long-term interests of people, communities and the environment, not just the next general election."

CPRE Transport Campaigner, Dawn Robinson, said:

"Time and time again it has been shown that we cannot build our way out of congestion. Fighting fire with fire just does not work. The Government's revised plan must provide more money for improving public transport and conditions for walking and cycling. That way, people will have genuine transport choice without wrecking the countryside"

Transport 2000 Director, Stephen Joseph, said:

"We are hoping the Transport Strategy will at least give an amber light for a more environmentally and people friendly transport policy. But John Prescott promised us an integrated transport system in 1998 and we're still waiting for it. Warm words will be welcome but no longer enough: we must see real improvements on the ground. The real proof will come in whether the Government is prepared to call a halt to damaging and ultimately futile road building schemes. It has plans for widening motorways, has suggested a new toll road beside the M6 and currently holds the fate of the Blackdown Hills in Somerset, where a destructive dual carriageway is proposed, in its hands."

The "Way to Go" coalition has produced a Media Briefing on the background to the 10 Year Review plus the coalition's vision for transport, including a ban on new road construction; extra funding for local transport such as buses and measures to increase walking and cycling; and a distance based road user charging system. The Way To Go coalition includes Friends of the Earth, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, WI and Transport 2000. www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/transport_plan.pdf (PDF format)

Friends of the Earth - Media Briefing explaining why "Road-User Charging" needs to be implemented to combat congestion and pollution

www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/road_user_charging.pdf (PDF format)

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust