Home > Press releases > 2005 > RAC ROAD-WIDENING CALL SLAMMED
Apr 29 2005
Commenting on the RAC's "Agenda for Action", published today which calls for an increase in road-capacity to help tackle congestion, Friends of the Earth's transport campaigner Tony Bosworth said:
"Tackling the UK's transport crisis must be a priority for the Government, but widening motorways and trunk roads isn't the answer. It will generate more traffic, more climate-changing emissions and won't solve congestion problems. The Government should concentrate on giving drivers better alternatives to the car by improving public transport and making streets safer for cycling and walking".
Last year a YouGov survey for Friends of the Earth found that twice as many people thought better buses and trains should be a high priority for the Government than widening motorways [1].
The latest Government figures, published earlier this year, revealed that motoring costs fell by six per cent in real terms since Labour came to power in 1997 and 2004, and that they fell by 11 per cent between 1975 and 2004. The cost of travelling by bus and train rose over the same periods [2].
Road transport is currently responsible for around 22 per cent of UK carbon dioxide emissions, and that level is expected to rise.
Traffic levels have risen under Labour, despite a promise by Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, to reduce them [3]. Traffic levels are now over ten per cent higher than when Labour came to power in 1997.
1 Better train services were considered a high priority by 61% of people questioned, better buses by 56% and wider motorways by only 28%.
AA/RAC members say "too much traffic"
2. Hansard: PQ by Norman Baker 24 February 2005. also: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1426363,00.html
3. www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/transport/news/prescott/
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