A vote for transport
April 1st 2010 Transport is rarely a big issue for voters when it comes to electing a new Government but it should be says Geoff Dossetter as he spells out his transport manifesto
Over the next few weeks we are going to be bombarded with promises, proposals, declarations, statements, overtures, propositions and all of the other fun and games.
But whichever party wins the election must recognise the importance of transport to our whole way of life, and protect and provide for it. Adequate and efficient transport facilities serve to underpin almost everything else that operates within the economy and within our society.We are the fifth largest economy in the world and we should be running that mega-economy on a transport infrastructure and regulatory environment which is fit for purpose. Presently we do not.
For 50 years successive governments have failed to treat transport with the respect and concern to which it is entitled. The average tenure for a Secretary of State for Transport has been about 18 months. It has been a job for a minister either on his way up or, worse still, on his way down. It needs to be taken far more seriously rather than being taken for granted. Before I cast my vote I’d like to know what the candidates think of my transport manifesto.
Infrastructure investment
The recession, the bankers, and the resultant state of public finances have left the country with enormous debts to pay off and with the threat of spending cutbacks in every sector. But transport is fundamental.We need a big programme of roads maintenance and improvements and we need to increase spending on congestion-busting road building. It is not acceptable that road congestion costs our economy a staggering £23 billion per year. We absolutely must spend to save.
Fuel duty
How much longer does the UK transport industry, unlike almost every other country in the world, have to pay the same ultra-high levels of duty on the essential fuel used for moving essential goods and services? We need to decouple taxation on goods vehicles from taxation on cars. It’s not rocket science.
Transport planning
Isn’t it time we regulated for the positive operation of goods vehicles, rather than against them.We should regulate to facilitate night deliveries, improved access, sensible loading and unloading (not parking attendants slapping tickets on delivery vehicles doing their job).We can’t beam it up yet, so please plan to let us in!
Drivers
We must take steps to improve the lot of the lorry driver. He or she is one of the most versatile and highly skilled workers in UK industry.We should provide increased numbers of adequate roadside facilities to reduce crime and improve services, and turn the job into something more people aspire to, rather than depart from as at present.
Of course, there is much more – we need to look at weights and dimensions; we should consider measures to replace older vehicles with newer cleaner versions; and we should increase enforcement in order to monitor the condition of foreign vehicles working in the UK and, indeed, the home-based cowboys. And it would be no bad thing if the Government itself backed us up by telling the public just how important our industry is, how essential we are to the economy, and tried that bit harder in helping us to educate and recruit the right calibre of personnel to meet our future needs. In this case ‘our’ doesn’t just mean the industry, it means the nation.
The dream scenario is for the new Government to appoint to the cabinet a big hitter transport supremo who is charged with spending the whole of the next Parliament, and maybe the one after, with fighting the cause for transport and improving its operation.
When Tony Blair came to power he appointed the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to the transport job, oh dear! More articles from Handling & Storage Solutions: | 
