20.11.08
Don’t hold your breath for Mr Hoon
So farewell then, Ruth Kelly and welcome new secretary of state for transport, Geoff Hoon. Mr Hoon has already declared himself to be supportive of high speed rail and recently told the Daily Telegraph that he is looking “very, very seriously” at technological innovations that will allow the existing railway network to be used more effectively “and that means more trains on some lines.”
But don’t hold your breath. Because ten years after a newly-elected Labour government declared that it would deliver a ‘new deal for transport’, transport experts from the Universities of Glasgow and Plymouth have exposed the scale of ministers’ failure in meeting their own objectives.
Timed to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Labour’s White Paper A New Deal for Transport, which was supposed to herald the dawn of a new approach to transport in the UK, Traffic Jam: 10 Years of “Sustainable” Transport in the UK features many of the UK’s most respected transport policy commentators who each give a detailed analysis of a particular area of Labour’s transport policies over the last decade.
Some of the main criticisms of the government’s record on transport are that the investment needs of the railways – particularly to increase capacity – have been almost completely ignored. That tram schemes have been abandoned, despite being proven highly effective at attracting motorists out of their cars and that Labour has been good at talking about transport improvements but far less adept at actually delivering any.
One of the book’s authors Prof Iain Shaw, director of the Centre for Sustainable Transport at the University of Plymouth, says: “The White Paper was a significant policy statement from New Labour and John Prescott famously said at the time ‘I will have failed in five years time if there are not more journeys made by public transport and fewer by car’.
“Our detailed analysis of Labour’s transport policies shows that they have been a big disappointment – at best a missed opportunity. It’s a shame because the government came in with the right intentions but have done very little to promote meaningful change”.
The book singles out London as a rare success because of the decisions that have been taken by the devolved Greater London Authority such as hugely increased investment in bus routes and the congestion charge. There have also been positive developments in the other devolved administrations such as the large-scale railway investment in Scotland.
But Westminster’s policy has failed with politicians there unwilling to take the bold decisions that are needed in order to tackle things like climate change and congestion.
“We don’t care enough about transport in the UK,” says Dr Docherty. “In France, Scandinavia and other European countries, there is much more of a policy emphasis on transport, but here it occasionally becomes a key issue when petrol gets expensive and the government doesn’t reduce fuel duty. But generally, transport is low on the list of priorities.”
So don’t expect much from Mr Hoon. The only thing which is likely to change at the DfT before the next general election is the name on the secretary of state’s door.
Tell us what you think – have your say below, or email us directly at [email protected]