Keeping track of the latest road schemes.

More often than not blogs allow for comment, but on occasion they have a role to play as a place of record; such as now. It is sometimes hard to keep track of what transport announcements the Government makes, so to help I am putting below more details of the news this morning that six major road schemes are going forward for development. Though there is no commitment to then take the schemes forward to construction, it would be odd if the commitment of funds for development work did not then lead to shovels in the ground, especially given that these schemes are to a large extent known quantities.

“The development work – to be carried out over the next three years – will ensure that a ‘pipeline’ of future Highways Agency major infrastructure improvements will be maintained, contributing to future economic growth, and supporting Government’s National Infrastructure Plan. By developing these now, proposals will be in a good position to be considered for delivery in the early years of the next spending review period (post 2015).

“The six schemes are:

• M4 Junctions 3-12 managed motorway scheme; Thames Valley
• M25 Junction 30 / A13 congestion relief scheme, Thurrock;
• A19/A1058 Coast Road Junction improvement; North Tyneside
• A21 Tonbridge – Pembury widening; Kent
• A63 Castle Street improvements, Hull; and
• A160/A180 improvements, Immingham

“Roads Minister Mike Penning said:

“We are committed to tackling congestion, keeping traffic moving and supporting the UK economy, putting in money where it’s most needed and where the public will get a good return on investment.

“We have already announced around £3bn of investment to complete work on Highways Agency major road projects under construction and to allow work to start before March 2015 on 20 much-needed road improvement schemes.

“Today, I am confirming development work will be advanced on a further six schemes around the country. This means they will be in a good position to be selected for start of works in the early years of the next spending review period.”

“The development work will focus on designing and consulting on proposals, along with progressing any necessary statutory processes.

“Today’s announcement also marks the conclusion of a review process for four schemes – including the M4 J3-12 managed motorway scheme – from the 2010 Spending Review.

“The M3 Junctions 2-4a managed motorway scheme has already been added to the roads programme with a start of work date of 2013/14.

“The two remaining proposals, the M20 Junction 10a and M54 to M6/M6 Toll link road, will continue to be considered for future delivery along with other schemes.

“Those proposals not selected at this time to have their development work advanced are still good schemes that address clear problems, and the Department will continue to work with key stakeholders to drive down costs and maximise public value for money.

1. Schemes were assessed according to their economic case (Benefit Cost Ratio), how well they fit strategically with the needs of the network and the economy, and their readiness for construction. Advancing the development work of the six schemes does not guarantee that they will be funded; decisions about which schemes will enter the programme in the next period will be taken at the next spending review.
2. The investment to develop the schemes will come from efficiencies achieved by the Highways Agency in delivering improvements to major roads that are in the current roads programme.
3. The Highways Agency will be working through the optimum programme and final costs for the development of each scheme shortly and further announcements on next steps for each scheme will be made in due course.
4. In addition to the six schemes selected to have their development work funded, the Highways Agency are continuing to develop the A5 – M1 Link Road (Dunstable Northern Bypass) following the Government having secured £45 million private sector investment towards the scheme.”

 

 

 

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#Transport biggest single area of household expenditure, bar none. 21 million homes in ‘transport #poverty’

Whichever way you cut it, UK citizens are paying a fortune to travel.

RAC Foundation analysis shows that of the nation’s 26 million households, a staggering 21 million are estimated to be in ‘transport poverty’ – that is, more than 10% of their incomes goes on getting about. When you consider only those homes that run a car (and the estimate is that 75% of households have a vehicle) then an astonishing 100% of households are in transport poverty. By way of comparison, and using the same monetary measure, the Department of Energy and Climate Change calculates that a ‘mere’ four million households are struggling to keep warm and so are in fuel poverty.

On the face of it, the poorest fifth of all households seem to spend the least amount on transport as a percentage of income. But this is a product of only around half of these families owning a car whereas in the highest earning fifth (quintile) of homes around 95% have a car. When you strip out the non-car owning households at the bottom end of the income spectrum then the least well off are paying more than 17% just on their vehicles, leaving aside anything that might go on public transport.

Looking at the figures another way reveals that out of an average household weekly income of £473.60, £64.90 goes on transport, making it the single biggest area of expenditure bar none.

While there has been much in the news about the price of fuel, this is only one component of the costly business of keeping mobile. Insurance costs have also soared. So too have maintenance costs. It is true that the price of both new and second hand cars has come down over recent years but while people can usually delay splashing out on still on these still very expensive items, they rarely have any option other than to travel: to work, to the shops, to take the children to school, to get to the doctors.

Transport has never been a sexy subject but it is fundamental to modern living; it is at the core of everything we do, and drives social and commercial life. When the Chancellor makes his decision on where fuel duty rates might go next, he would do well to remember that.

 

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#DfT sinks under flood of trivial queries as big schemes sail on unquestioned #hs2 #roads

Parliamentary written questions - and their answers – are often informative, sometimes bemusing and occasionally apparently pointless. The one asked by Fabian Hamilton MP – and responded to yesterday – encompasses elements of all three.

Mr Hamilton, the honourable Labour member for Leeds North East, asked the Department for Transport how much money had been spent on wine, other alcoholic refreshments and bottled water by the department and its agencies since May 2010.

Reassuringly the amount expended on booze was a big fat zero, in line with the DfT’s no alcohol policy. Interestingly, and unlike some other governmental departments, nor does the DfT hold any stocks of wine. It seems there is no Marsham Street cellar to be plundered when important guests arrive.

Those guests should also know that they will not be receiving any bottled water when they pitch up to see ministers and civil servants. The same goes for visitors to the Air, Rail and Marine Accident Investigation Branches, the DVLA and VOSA.

By contrast the DSA has spent nearly £3,000 on mineral water over the same period but a note points out that this was used to supply refreshments to driving instructors who are based in Portakabins and are without access to the mains supply. Some coastguard teams operating in remote areas are also entitled to the odd bottle of water as are technicians working for the Northern Lighthouse Board (technically a Non Departmental Public Body) who find themselves perched on a rock in the middle of the sea surrounded by water but without a drop to drink.

All of this is mildly interesting in a ‘trivial fact’ sort of way but surely there are better things to be quizzing the Department over. Whether or not they spend relatively paltry amounts on hosting guests or keeping staff from dehydration is immaterial when viewed against spending decisions which involve millions and billions of pounds rather than a few thousand.

Surely what MPs should really be asking is what value the hard-pressed taxpayer is getting from the big schemes being signed off by ministers. As the country once again stutters under a deluge of snow and there are big debates about the benefits of prestige road and rail projects, this sort of question seems particularly petty. The old proverb says that if you look after the pennies the pounds will look after themselves. As with many old wives tales it has an element of truth in it, but not much more.

Let’s stop drowning officials with a deluge of trivia and instead have the bottle to question ministers over the big issues which cross their desks.

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Crime and punishment. A #victimssurcharge too far

At the risk of biting off more than I can chew it might be worth trying to define what we are trying to achieve when we punish someone for a crime.

I suppose the starting point is determining what a crime is. The glib answer is that it is the result of someone breaking the criminal law. When it comes to motoring, the laws drivers are at the risk of contravening include those relating to speed limits. While we could legitimately discuss whether the current speed limits are appropriate, the fact remains they are what they are and most responsible motorists will abide by them – whatever their underlying thoughts on their validity.

So what happens when a crime is committed and the person who erred is found guilty? Normally they receive a punishment to fit the crime; something which serves as a suitable demonstration of how seriously society regards that crime and also severe enough to deter a significant amount of people from repeating the unlawful activity.

Of course a second pillar of the criminal justice system (CJS) is the ability of the police to catch offenders or at least create the impression that they will be caught.

It is by juggling these two aspects of the CJS that the lowest possible crime rate can be achieved.

But what a punishment regime should not be is a revenue raiser, least of all one which treats one set of offenders differently to another. Yet that is what the reported changes related to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme seem in danger of becoming: a method of using fines to generate income – rather than being a proportional punishment – and isolating one type of criminal perpetrator from the others. This runs the risk of bringing the law into disrepute. Dare I say, it might even be illegal.

Perhaps this whole debate is simply one big kite flying exercise to gauge public reaction to such a scheme. It will be fascinating to see how long this particular kite remains airborne.

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Who you gonna call? 999 or 112

Here in the UK you can contact the emergency services by dialling either 999 or 112.

Calls to these numbers from both fixed and mobile phones are free, as are calls from payphones.

In some European countries (Sweden, Denmark and The Netherlands), the sole emergency number is 112 whilst other member states have adopted the same system as the UK and use the number 112 alongside their national emergency numbers.

All EU member states must ensure that emergency services are able to establish the location of the person calling the 112. The ability to locate the caller in case of an emergency may be of great significance in a situation where the person is unable to state his or her location, which can happen particularly when calling after a traffic incident on an unfamiliar road at home or abroad.

For more information about calling emergency numbers in Europe: http://www.eena.org/view/en/index.html

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Drug driving equipment trialled as drink drive deaths fall

Testing kits to catch motorists high on drugs could be available to police within the year.

The Government has announced that ‘drugalysers’ able to screen for a range of substances including cocaine and ecstasy will be installed at every police station by 2012.

The move means officers will no longer have to wait for permission from a doctor before a blood test could be taken to be used as evidence.

Research has suggested 10% of drivers between 18 and 29 admit to getting behind the wheel after taking illegal drugs.

Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said:

“At last the technology has caught up with the political will and the public mood. The trialling of this equipment shows ministers are serious about tackling the drug-driving problem. Its use will speed up the detection process freeing officers to do other tasks.”

The news comes a day after provisional figures showed the number of deaths in drink-drive related accidents fell to an all time low, falling from 400 in 2008 to 380 in 2009.

Figures also showed that in the first quarter of 2010, 420 people died in road accidents, 24% fewer than in the same period in the previous year.

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Buyer Beware: New Vehicle Registration Certificate to protect motorists from vehicle crime

Following the theft of a number of blank Vehicle Registration Certificates (V5C)  in 2006 the Government has announced that new documents will be issued from 15th August 2010 for all newly registered vehicles to help protect motorists from vehicle crime.

Since 2006 a number of vehicles have been stolen, cloned and sold to consumers using  of the stolen V5Cs, with buyers often mistakenly believing the V5C to be proof of ownership of a vehicle. The new V5C, which is a different colour, has been developed to end the threat posed by the stolen documents.

New certificates will be issued for existing vehicle registrations as and when there is a change of keeper or address and from July 2011, the new-style V5C will be issued to all remaining vehicles when they are next re-licensed or declared to be off the road. The existing blue V5C will remain valid until it is replaced.

DVLA and the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) in Northern Ireland are also promoting a “Buyer Beware” message aimed at helping motorists to understand the risks around stolen or cloned vehicles. In particular, buyers are encouraged to ask for proof of ownership, for example a bill of sale. The DirectGov website also now has a printable list of checks that should be carried out by prospective buyers when looking to buy a second-hand vehicle.

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Use of speed cameras slows dramatically

So fixed speed cameras are suffering death by a thousand cuts as the budget to run them is sharply reduced.

Oxfordshire County Council is reported to be scrapping the £600,000 it gives annually to the Thames Valley Road Safety Partnership, and the removal of that funding will see the partnership ceasing to maintain the 72 cameras currently to be found on the county’s roads. They could be mothballed within days.

The council’s decision is not entirely unexpected given the coalition government’s promise to end the ”war on motorists”, as part of which it pledged to stop providing local authorities with the money to operate its cameras – something it has already done.

But while there will be drivers all too pleased to see the back of the so-called yellow peril, there is a much broader problem associated with the slashing of the road safety budget which concerns the RAC Foundation. The roads minister Mike Penning says he hopes councils will now focus on other ways of reducing road casualties, but how can they do anything if the cash to do it with is not available? For example, if the government believes enforcing speed limits is a good thing, then who is going to do it? Certainly not the police who also face a large reduction in resources and manpower.

There is of course the question of whether the current speed limits are actually appropriate, and often a case can be made -  based on local circumstances – for reducing them in some instances, and indeed for increasing them in others, as happened recently on a stretch of the A13 in London.

But the fundamental fact remains. Road safety measures, which go far beyond speed cameras, deliver huge benefits in terms of value for taxpayers’ money, so in this time of financial crisis road safety is not an area where budgets should be cut. Let us debate how the money is spent, but with 2222 people still dying in road accidents there is clearly work still to be done.

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Have your say on cuts to red tape

Government’s are often accused of  creating pointless regulation or unnecessary bureaucracy.  In response to this commonly held view the coalition Government has launched The Your Freedom website which gives people the opportunity ‘to tell the Government which laws and regulations should be cut. The motoring section has 278 comments and counting…almost as much as education (291)! Don’t miss the opportunity to have your voice heard!

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“Clunk, click every trip” is back

The latest in a string of breath- taking adverts desperately trying to promote safe and sensible driving, features a car crash at 30mph where the driver has neglected to wear his seat belt.

It is shame such a graphic advert is required to bring home to people such a simple message- wear your seat belt.  This message must be taken on board by not only drivers, but passengers too- as a previous advert highlighted the dangers of a back seat passenger not wearing their seatbelt, mainly that they can crush those in the front seat.

In a further attempt to encourage people to “clunk, click every trip” the Government is considering doubling the fine for not wearing a seat belt from £30 to £60.

1 in 6 road deaths could be avoided if seat belts are worn.

The RAC Foundation urges motorists and passengers to wear their seat belts for all journeys, which includes a 2 minute trip to the local shops as well as a 2 hour motorway journey.  As seat belt wearing advocate Sir Jimmy Savile says:

“It takes 2 seconds to be thrown through a window, but 2 years to put your face back together.” 

Harsh but true.

Source: The Scotsman, Shocking TV ad scares us into belting up in the car, 4/11/08

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