64% of transport industry professionals against road user charging

Surveys are always taking place, but there has certainly been a spate of them in recent months, some of which have already been talked out in this blog. An additional piece of information which has come to light, was a survey completed at last weeks Traffex/parkex event, which has highlighted that 64% of industry specialists are against road user charging as a method for cutting congestion and environmental damage. The finding highlighted in an article within Transport Times (27.04.07), was a surprise to Stephen Norris who said ‘I am suprised that such a large percentage of people voted against Road User Charging.’

The RAC Foundation have consistently had a voice in the Road User Charging debate. It was starting to become obvious that ‘group-think’ was starting to cloud the industries perspective on the issue, despite public opinion. Therefore news that a reasonable number of specptics exist within the transport field is encouraging as it will hopefully mean that the development, implications and workings of any future Road User Charging scheme will be fully debated within the industry.

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Transport investment key to securing productive urban centres

New research from the IPPR provides useful information on agglomeration economies and the role of transport investment in securing more productive urban centres. On the back of Eddington and in light of our soon to be published research on strategic network capacities this is another welcome addition to the debate, which emphasises the importance of investing in transport to secure a prosperous nation.

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Twelve years on and the RAC Foundation’s Car Dependency report findings still apply

New research out this week finds that one fifth of people in the UK would leave their cars at home, which supports the conclusion’s of the RAC Foundation’s original Car Dependency Report (1995). Our original report found that 20% of people could switch from the car. Twelve years on and the situation seems very much the same, which begs the question…is it possible to move beyond an 80% car dependent population? What has or has not happened over the past 12 years in transport policy terms, which still makes us wedded to our cars ?

Recent survey findings come from Autocar and Trueform. Autocar found that 20% of drivers would consider using public transport. Those in London were most likely to consider public transport, whereas those in the North of the UK are less likely to do so. Young drivers aged 17-24 were most likely to give up their cars. 30% of people said they could see a time where they would not own cars and would use public transport.

Trueform’s survey (Reported on What Car?) found that 21% of drivers would give up their car and use public transport if road-user charging schemes were introduced. Widespread opposition to road-user charging was also noted (only 17% in favour). Drivers in the East, the Southwest and Wales were least likely to support plans.

These surveys once again demonstrate the extent to which we rely on our cars to go about our daily business. It is possible for a level of car replacement to take place, on approximately 20% of all journeys and some people can see ‘life without a car’, but for the vast majority the car will continue to play an important role and as a result opposition to road-user charging is growing. 

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Women cyclists more ‘at risk’ when obeying traffic signals

New TfL research uncovered by Ben webster in The Times today shows that 86% of women cyclists killed in London between 1999 and 2004 collided with a lorry, compared to a figure of 47% of male cyclist deaths. The study suggests that women are likey to be over represented in the statistics because they have a greater tendancy to follow the rules of the road more carefully, placing them in the dangerous blind spot of lorries at signalised junctions. TfL has recently launched a campaign to inform lorry drivers and cyclists of the dangers at junctions and with a trend for increasing cyclists on London’s roads this mesage really needs to be brought home to new and/or returning cyclists. 

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Newsreaders catch up with the latest on Make Roads Safe

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Michael Schumacher signs the petition

Michael Schumacher signs the Make Roads Safe petition

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Photos from the Make Roads Safe Global Petition launch

Max Mosley, Lord Roberstson and Dr Ladyman show their support for Make Roads Safe.

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Green guilt also seen over the pond…79% of Californians concerned about energy security

New research out from the Diesel Technology Forum shows that our friends over the pond also suffer from ‘green guilt’. The survey finds that the majority of Californians (79%) are concerned about Energy Security and Climate change and think that clean diesel technology has a role to play. 60% recognised that their personal vehicles have an impact on climate change and they also believe that their air quality has improved or remained the same over the past 20 years. However, it is obvious from the results that technology development which reduces reliance on external fuel sources is seen as important for the state.

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Environment and technology in transport…moving in the right direction

I attended the Smarter Moving Conference held at the NEC in Birmingham last week to present our research on online shopping and its environmental impact (See last weeks blog for full details). Two other very interesting papers were presented in the session, the findings of which are worth a brief mention.

The first presentation was made by John Conquest and colleague from Mouchel Parkman. Their paper titled ‘Sustainability and Highways Technology Schemes’ addressed the dust-to-dust environmental impact of variable speed signage on strategic routes, using the M25 as a case study. Their research found that variable signage could achieve a net saving of approximately 13,000 tonnes of CO2 over a 15 year period. They said additional work was needed to look at the impact of shorter technology lifecycles on initial estimates (i.e. replacement of electronics over five years for instance) and that other factors, which were initially difficult to quantify would get further attention.

This was then followed by Joel Gorsch from Business Region Goteborg on behalf of Automotive Sweden who spoke about the development, application and use of green vehicle technology in Sweden. We were told that 1.7 billion korona had been put into the first stage of a joint initiative between government, manufacturers and local authorities looking at vehicle engines, fuels and clean technology. The approach appears to have had reasonable success especially in the biomethane field as 11,500 vehicles in Sweden are now operated using this fuel supported by 68 filling stations. The programme Joel spoke of was more focused on developing future vehicle technology, but a number of government incentives dealing with consumer behaviour were highlighted such as free parking in city centres and tax discounts for environmental cars, which is helping to encourage new technology use. Carrots rather than sticks appears to be the approach Sweden is focusing on. Joel also highlighted that the initiative is very much focused on retaining jobs within the Swedish car industry and it is encouraging that next generation vehicles are a key part of the countries future business planning. 

This ‘environmental issues’ section at the Smarter Moving Conference, was a very useful and interesting session. It was just a bit of a shame that ‘environmental issues’, which are now so key to policy in the wake of the Stern Report, was left to the last session on the last day. Maybe next year we will see environmental issues and technology headlining rather than trailing the Internationl Conference.

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20% of drivers suffer from ‘green guilt’ when driving in cities

New research from Prudential Car Insurance finds that 20% of motorists experience ‘green guilt’ when driving in cities. Men and those living in the south-East are most concerned about their environmental impact and that those under the age of 24 show less concern.

Car dependency is very much pronounced in the survey as 57% describe driving in urban areas as a ‘necessary evil’, a choice which is made as 51% think the car is more reliable than public transport. The good news from this survey is that people appear to increasingly recognise the environmental impact of driving on the environment, but few are willing or able to make the leap and change their behaviour.  

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