There is a debate raging in the United Kingdom about the nation’s transportation future. As in the United States, traffic congestion is getting worse, it’s taking a major toll on the economy and people are moved to do something about it. Controversy has come to a head with the release of “The Eddington Transport Study,” a voluminous report that outlines a series of recommendations for action by Parliament.
I will confess: I have not read the entire document, but I have hit the highlights. A number of key findings are worth considering here in Virginia. Some excerpts:
- Travel demand is growing rapidly due to continued economic success and is densely concentrated on certain parts of the networks at certain times of day. As a result, parts of the system are under serious strain. If left unchecked, the rising cost of congestion will waste an extra 22 billion [pounds sterling] worth of time in England alone by 2025. Then 13 percent of traffic will be subject to stop-start travel conditions.
- The economic case for targeted new infrastructure is strong and offers very high returns — the best schemes offer returns in the region of 50-10 pounds for each pound invested. … Smaller projects which unblock pinch-points, variable infrastructure schemes to support public transport in urban areas, and international gateway surface projects are likely to offer the very highest returns, sometimes higher than 10 pounds for every pound spent.
- “Build it and they will come” is a dangerous approach to transport projects which attempt to regenerate areas and regions. Often the result is a two-way process in which local businesses actually lose out as more productive and competitive firms from other regions can access the area and compete for previously protected markets.
- Provided it is well targeted, a national road pricing scheme … could reduce congestion some 50 percent below what it otherwise would be in 2025 and reduce the economic case for additional strategic road infrastructure by some 80 percent. … Given the pace of economic change, pricing also offers considerable flexibility once in place. With pricing it becomes possible to respond to unanticipated change through changing prices much sooner — and at much lower cost — than bringing forward new infrastructure.
