CONGESTION CHARGING

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Transport Minister Rosie Winterton insists councils are not being blackmailed into introducing congestion-charging. However, Derby will not get any of £1.4bn unless it signs up. The government has given the go-ahead for trials of road pricing with new powers and has published its Local Transport Bill, which allows councils to go ahead with schemes without prior approval from ministers. Derby City Council leader Chris Williamson said, "We always knew that this was likely to be the government's line on access to this funding. It could revolutionise public transport in Derby."

Although only Cambridge and Manchester have so far come forward with proposals for congestion-charging schemes, officials from Derby, Leicester and Nottingham and their three counties are among other groups weighing up whether to apply for cash. Ms Winterton said, "We want to encourage innovation and we've made it very clear there is no national road-pricing scheme, certainly through this Bill. I'm very pleased there have been authorities who have taken up that request to be innovative and are working to put forward schemes that they think are right for their local areas." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Nov/07)

A report commissioned by the East Midlands Development Agency shows that traffic jams on main routes into the city are causing the local economy to lose out. The report highlights the impact that major congestion at junctions of the A38 into Derby and the A52 west of Nottingham is having. The delays are hitting businesses in the pocket owing to the amount of time wasted by employees while on the road commuting.

EMDA has warned that the figure of £45m is "a very conservative" estimate for the city. George Cowcher, the chief executive of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce, said, "Congestion is not just an inconvenience but also a heavy burden on business. We've been making the point for some considerable time that our transport infrastructure, roads, rail, airports and even waterways, requires more investment, and Derby firms should not have to face further taxes to fund it."

City Council leader Chris Williamson said, "The problem is that traffic forecasts are suggesting that the number of vehicles is growing, so congestion is only going to get worse if we don't do something. Congestion-charging is an option but it can't be introduced on its own, which is why I've said it's important to have a network of park-and-ride facilities for the city. I also reiterate the promise that city residents would not have to pay congestion charges if they were to be introduced." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Jul/07)

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone plans to spend £12million on a satellite that can monitor motorists from space. The technology could eliminate the need for road cameras to monitor congestion charge zones as well as do away with controversial mobile phone masts. The London Development Agency board voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of backing a bid by global mobile satellite communications company Inmarsat, to launch the satelitte.

London-based Inmarsat went to the LDA, the Mayor’s economic agency, after failing to secure backing from the Department of Trade and Industry. The overall contract would be worth £630m with funding also coming from the South East of England Development Agency and the East of England Development Agency. The launch, on a European Space Agency rocket, is being earmarked for 2011. (Source: The Sun, Mar/07)

It's amazing how opinions change when financial incentives are introduced. In 2003, Councillor Sara Bolton said that reports Derby was considering introducing congestion charging were "nonsense" and "totally untrue". She added that the council had "categorically ruled it out as an option" and didn't think it would be practical here. However, the lure of a slice of the government's £1.4bn Transport Innovation Fund may tempt the city council to impose a controversial congestion charge scheme.

The government money will be provided to local authorities to carry out their own public transport improvement programmes to reduce congestion, but a condition would be that road-pricing initiatives would have to be in the schemes. The council has said that it does not know yet exactly how a congestion-charging scheme would work or at which point on the roads the scheme would kick in. Different methods could be used to take payment, such as toll booths, but it would be more likely that drivers would buy passes in advance.

Routes that would be included in a congestion-charging system have been identified by the city council if a bid for cash from Whitehall to carry out road improvements goes ahead. They include: the outer ring road, including Raynesway, Harvey Road, Osmaston Park Road, Manor Road, Kingsway and Queensway, and the inner ring road, including St Alkmund's Way and the proposed link between Ford Street and Traffic Street. Other key routes in the scheme are Osmaston Road, Chellaston Road, Swarkestone Road, Uttoxeter New Road, Duffield Road, London Road, Sir Frank Whittle Way and the A52 and A38 dual carriageways. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Feb/07)