Congestion charge ‘winner’ (From York Press)

Congestion charge ‘winner’

9:59am Friday 12th March 2010 in

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Will the real Liberal Democrats stand up? We have Coun Galloway’s anti-traffic congestion charge comments, while nationally it’s reported that: “The Liberal Democrats are banking on a hung parliament to give them influence over transport policy with road pricing being one of their priorities.”

Party transport spokesman, Norman Baker said recently the party would make a commitment to road pricing in its manifesto: “We must reform the price paid for motoring, to better reflect its carbon impact, and encourage modal shift.”

Baker’s got it right, while Coun Galloway and some Press correspondents are in denial about the impact of traffic growth in York and what needs to be done about it. They’re failing to consider the rising costs of congestion. Whether it’s extra fuel costs from sitting in traffic queues, lost time, missed appointments, pollution or accidents, they all add up.

Congestion charging could actually be a win-win for York. Charging would provide the money to transform public transport in the city and sort the northern ring road – where else is it going to come from with major public spending cuts coming?

Yes, people pay, but the money is used usefully rather than simply wasted in congestion or driving the long way round.

Yes, detailed work and consultation on the detail is required – whether congestion charging or business parking charges, or which roads/areas, as well as at what times of day in order to take account of tourism and city-centre business concerns.

Taking a holistic look at the issues is most important – we must consider the all-round pros and cons rather than conducting a conflicted knee-jerk approach to an issue that impacts on many residents.

Therefore, York’s transport issues call for a bold imaginative approach, not local politicians turning a blind eye to the transport implications of York’s economic success or leaving it to someone else to sort out the mess later.

Neil Barnes, Micklegate, York.