Tony Blair's road pricing email - A response.

Thank you for taking the time to register your views about road pricing on the Downing Street website. This petition was posted shortly before we published the Eddington Study, an independent review of Britain's transport network. This study set out long-term challenges and options for our transport network. It made clear that congestion is a major problem to which there is no easy answer.

One aspect of the study was highlighting how road pricing could provide a solution to these problems and that advances in technology put these plans within our reach. Of course it would be 10 years or more before any national scheme was technologically, never mind politically, feasible [I wash my hands of this problem]. That is the backdrop to this issue. As my response makes clear, this is not about imposing "stealth taxes" or introducing "Big Brother" surveillance.

This is a complex subject, which cannot be resolved without a thorough investigation of all the options, combined with a full and frank debate about the choices we face at a local and national level. That's why I hope this detailed response will address your concerns and set out how we intend to take this issue forward. I see this e-mail as the beginning, not the end of the debate, and the links below provide an opportunity for you to take it further.

But let me be clear straight away: we have not made any decision about national road pricing. Indeed we are simply not yet in a position to do so. We are, for now, working with some local authorities that are interested in establishing local schemes to help address local congestion problems. Pricing is not being forced on any area, but any schemes would teach us more about how road pricing would work and inform decisions on a national scheme. And funds raised from these local schemes will be used to improve transport in those areas [Such as Ken Livingstone’s excellent idea to offer half price bus travel to those on income support].

One thing I suspect we can all agree is that congestion is bad. It's bad for business because it disrupts the delivery of goods and services. It affects people's quality of life. And it is bad for the environment. That is why tackling congestion is a key priority for any government [“Congestion, congestion, congestion” - Tony Blair,1997!].

Congestion is predicted to increase by 25% by 2015 [by the same team that predicted the Millennium Dome would be a great success]. This is being driven by economic prosperity [and a lack of any Government policy on population growth]. There are six million more vehicles on the road now than in 1997, and predictions are that this trend will continue [as Government is unable to remove the two million uninsured vehicles on Britain’s roads]. Part of the solution is to improve public transport, and to make the most of the existing road network. We have more than doubled investment since 1997, spending £2.5bn this year on buses and over £4bn on trains - helping to explain why more people are using them than for decades. [Increasing levels of traffic congestion does not automatically make more people use the trains and buses!]. And we're committed to sustaining this investment, with over £140bn of investment planned between now and 2015 [which is really good news for train drivers and train guards as they will be looking forward to striking for more pay again this summer]. We're also putting a great deal of effort into improving traffic flows - for example, over 1,000 Highways Agency traffic officers now help to keep motorway traffic moving [off-peak]. But all the evidence shows that improving public transport and tackling traffic bottlenecks will not by themselves prevent congestion getting worse. So we have a difficult choice to make about how we tackle the expected increase in congestion.

This is a challenge that all political leaders have to face up to, and not just in the UK. For example, road-pricing schemes are already in operation in Italy, Norway and Singapore, and others, such as the Netherlands, are developing schemes. [France, Germany, Italy, the United States, Canada, Japan, Spain etc. aren’t!]. Towns and cities across the world are looking at road pricing as a means of addressing congestion.

One option would be to allow congestion to grow unchecked. Given the forecast growth in traffic, doing nothing would mean that journeys within and between cities would take longer [More people might use trains or buses instead], and be less reliable [road congestion would directly penalise those people travelling at peak times!]. I think that would be bad for businesses, individuals [the Treasury] and the environment. And the costs on us all will be real - congestion could [but then again could not] cost an extra £22bn in wasted time in England [what about the rest of the UK?] by 2025, of which £10bn to £12bn would be the direct cost on businesses.

A second option would be to try to build our way out of congestion. We could, of course, add new lanes to our motorways, widen roads in our congested city centres, and build new routes across the countryside. Certainly in some places new capacity will be part of the story. That is why we are widening the M25, M1 and M62. But I think people agree that we cannot simply build more and more roads, particularly when the evidence suggests that traffic quickly grows to fill any new capacity. [People are flexible enough to choose their optimal travel plan given cost and time constraints]. Tackling congestion in this way would also be extremely costly, requiring substantial sums to be diverted from other services such as education and health, [funding the European Union, incapacity benefits, unemployment benefits, MPs pensions, Scotland, Wales and Quangos], or increases in taxes [again!]. If I tell you that one mile of new motorway costs as much as £30m, you'll have an idea of the sums this approach would entail. [It could even dent the net £40bn taken from motorists each year!]. That is why I believe that at least we need to explore the contribution road pricing can make to tackling congestion. It would not be in anyone's interests, especially those of motorists, to slam the door shut on road pricing without exploring it further.

It has been calculated that a national scheme - as part of a wider package of measures - could cut congestion significantly through small changes in our overall travel patterns. [Making England’s roads a more attractive means of getting to work!]. But any technology used would have to give definite guarantees about privacy being protected - as it should be. [The Government guarantees your privacy, just ask DWP staff whose details have never been compromised or the 25,000 pensioners whose bank account details were not sent to the wrong addresses!]. Existing technologies, such as mobile phones and pay-as-you-drive insurance schemes [and petrol tax], may well be able to play a role here, by ensuring that the government doesn't hold information about where vehicles have been. But there may also be opportunities presented by developments in new technology. Just as new medical technology is changing the NHS [thanks to Labour!], so there will be changes in the transport sector. Our aim is to relieve traffic jams, not create a "Big Brother" society.

I know many people's biggest worry about road pricing is that it will be a "stealth tax" on motorists. It won't [It will be a "visible" tax!]. Road pricing is about tackling congestion. Clearly if we decided to move towards a system of national road pricing, there could be a case for moving away from the current system of motoring taxation. This could mean that those who use their car less, or can travel at less congested times, in less congested areas, for example in rural areas, would benefit from lower motoring costs overall [just don't bet on it!].

Those who travel longer distances at peak times and in more congested areas would pay more [Only those driving to work would be caught in the scheme, as they all enjoy being stuck in traffic!]. But those are decisions for the future. At this stage, when no firm decision has been taken as to whether we will move towards a national scheme, stories about possible costs are simply not credible, since they depend on so many variables yet to be investigated, never mind decided.

Before we take any decisions about a national pricing scheme, we know that we have to have a system that works [have faith in Government IT projects!]. A system that respects our privacy as individuals. A system that is fair [to the Treasury].

I fully accept that we don't have all the answers yet. That is why we are not rushing headlong into a national road-pricing scheme. Before we take any decisions there would be further consultations. The public will, of course, have their say, as will Parliament. We want to continue this debate, so that we can build a consensus around the best way to reduce congestion, protect the environment and support our businesses.

If you want to find out more, please visit the attached links to more detailed information, and which also give opportunities to engage in further debate.

Yours sincerely,

Tony Blair