It’s a politically hot potato; delivering road space and priority for coaches and buses, while restricting cars.
At the moment, clean air is the driver with some local authorities mulling whether to give access only to electric vehicles – but this blanket policy might merely encourage the take-up of electric cars, at the expense tot eh PSV industry which is faced with a smaller product range, and significantly higher capital costs.
There is no question that transport affects every person as soon as they leave their home; even as pedestrians, we are impacted. The current vogue is to talk about air quality, and there’s a reluctant admission by some politicians that congestion leads to poor air quality.
Despite this, what bugs many politicians is not how to solve congestion, but who owns what and the command and control of transport.
The signs the Labour Party follow this mantra, i.e. that nationalisation and state control are good, and private enterprise is bad.
Yet in the one city where this happens, the fully-regulated London, the effects are clear and the consequences dire.
Long held as a virtue of goodness, growing congestion and falling bus speeds have proved that despite very cheap fares, plus widespread free travel, congestion is driving people away from buses.
And it’s not just buses, but access for coaches to drop-off and pick-up points that are convenient for passengers.
Sadly, few politicians seem to want to grasp this particular nettle.
