The motorway age (1955–79) - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 90

developments. A 'ruthless examination' was undertaken of the various elements
of transport spending to ensure that they were actually meeting overall aims - the
results being published in a consultation document (DOE 1976). Its emphasis on an
'objectives-led' approach was an innovation.
The principle of a more 'targeted' approach to spending was proposed in the support
of bus and train services. The consultation document was particularly damning of
subsidies being used to limit fare increases - a practice that had started to take hold
in London and the PTA areas in particular. Whilst recognising the need to cater for
social needs, especially in rural areas, the document proposed an overall halving of
support in the subsequent three years. However, in the White Paper which followed,
the Government backed down on this particular proposal (DTp 1977).
Urban rail schemes which had been proposed in the conurbations were more
vulnerable to cuts. Notable casualties were the so-called Picc-Vic line (an underground
connection across Manchester City Centre between the two main railway stations)
and a new tube line in Central London (originally the 'Fleet', later the 'Jubilee' line).
However the Tyne and Wear Metro -a scheme involving the renewal of electrified
suburban lines coupled with a new cross-centre tunnel in Newcastle and Gateshead
- narrowly escaped abandonment. With its interchange stations fed by bus services
from outlying areas plus a universal zonal ticketing scheme the Metro epitomised the
sort of integrated public transport network which the 1968 Act had been intended to
bring about.
As far as motorways and trunk roads were concerned the consultation document
originally envisaged that a lower level of spending would imply some reduction in the
4,500-mile 'strategic network' proposed in 1970, and an extension (to the late 1980s)
of the period during which it would be built. In the White Paper the concept itself was
to be 'modified':
The Government intends to adopt a more flexible approach … improving roads
in phases, dealing with the worst stretches first, and varying the standard of a road
throughout its length to reflect the different degree of use. It may lead to less tidy
solutions and demand more of the lorry driver and motorist, but it is a necessary
price to pay for putting resources where they are most needed.
(ibid. paras 248-249)
The White Paper cited the example of the route from Manchester to Sheffield
which had originally been planned as a motorway throughout. Instead it was decided
that
the solution which best met economic as well as environmental requirements was
one comprising by-passes for the urban areas with only minor improvements to
the existing road through the Peak District National Park.
(ibid. para 250)
The significance of the Government's response to the financial crisis of the mid-
1970s was not just that its spending plans were temporarily curtailed. Rather the
whole trajectory of growth which had underpinned assumptions during the previous
20 years disappeared. An era which began confidently with local authorities preparing
blueprints for the future ended with an air of resignation at seemingly forever having
to 'muddle through'. Strategic planning in particular - the cutting-edge of planning