A new deal for transport? - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 134

that the announcement of a large programme of road schemes arising from the first
batch of multi-modal studies had made little reference to supporting public transport
schemes or demand restraint measures:
There is growing doubt about the Government's commitment to all aspects of
an integrated transport agenda …. If transport is to play its part in delivering
the quality of life that the country needs and deserves for the 21st century then
integrated transport, incorporating behavioural change and demand restraint, as
well as infrastructure provision, is the essential way forward.
(CfIT 2003)
CfIT, and David Begg personally, were prominent in arguing the case for investigating
a nationwide system of road user charging (CfIT 2002). The new Transport Secretary
Alistair Darling appears to have been won over by the idea and took the opportunity
when announcing his response to a second batch of multi-modal studies to publish
a Green Paper Managing Our Roads (DfT 2003a). Whilst the DfT's press release
headlined a '£7bn blitz of improvements to keep traffic flowing on some of Britain's
most congested roads', Darling also announced the commissioning of a Road Charging
Feasibility Study.
In deciding on some of the MMS road proposals Darling had shown himself
willing to give priority to local environmental issues in certain cases. However there
was no evidence that he was prepared to give ground to more global environmental
considerations. This impression was confirmed a few months later when he published
a White Paper on The Future of Air Transport (DfT 2003b) . This was a much-delayed
fulfilment of a commitment given in the New Deal White Paper to apply to the subject
of airports the policies 'of sustainable development, integration with surface transport
and contribution to regional growth' (DETR 1998a para 3.109).
In the event the airports White Paper did no such thing. Whilst acknowledging
that 'we must do more to reduce the environmental effects of aviation' (including
promoting an international trade in carbon emissions) the basis of the policies for
airport development was essentially 'predict and provide'. Overall projections were
for between a doubling and trebling of passenger demand by 2030 with aviation
potentially contributing a quarter of the UK's contribution to global warming by that
date. Much of the White Paper was concerned with the implications of this growth
for development policies at individual airports, but in 'policy silo' fashion. Given the
enormous importance of airports in influencing the distribution of economic and
spatial development the absence of explicit discussion of these matters, let alone
attempt at integrated planning, was stunning.
The Government had always intended to review the Ten Year Plan in 2004 to
coincide with the Chancellor's Comprehensive Spending Review. Unexpectedly it
chose to do this in the form of a White Paper The Future of Transport (DfT 2004f). (For
the first time this largely applied to England only.) In terms of analysis and policy the
text of the White Paper offered almost nothing new and, except for the restructuring of
rail responsibilities (the subject of a separate White Paper - see 23.5), did not preface
any legislative proposals.
The White Paper was subtitled A Network for 2030 . On the face of it this looked
like a response to calls by the Select Committee and others for a longer term planning
horizon. In fact the Paper contained minimal and superficial consideration of issues
over this longer period. The following is typical: