Transport - England's Most Important Local Issue
Commission for Integrated Transport Chair: Professor David Begg Vice Chair: Sir Trevor Chinn
Transport-related issues are the most important local concerns in England today, according to a major new survey carried out for the Commission for Integrated Transport.
Transport problems were spontaneously cited by 32% of the 2,024 respondents - more than twice as many as any other issue except crime and vandalism, which scored 28% in the MORI poll.
Congestion was the biggest single transport issue listed, with 81% of people believing it was going to get worse over the next 10 years. The responsibility for tackling that congestion in our towns and cities lay with local government, according to 70% of respondents.
The public have strong views on the measures they would back for cutting traffic congestion. Almost half (49%) would favour restricted car access to towns and cities (with just 31% opposed). A majority (41% for and 35% against) would back charges for driving into city centres when combined with reduced VED or fuel duty, and 39% would also support such a charge where revenue was invested in public transport (compared with 40% against).
And, as the Government prepares to publish its 10 Year Plan for transport, the message on priorities was clear. When asked to make a choice 22% wanted to see improved conditions for motorists while nearly three times as many (66%) wanted to see public transport improved.
While the public clearly wants more attention paid to roads there is little enthusiasm for building new motorways, which were backed by 34%, only 10% of them strongly. A further 46% opposed new motorways.
Top road priorities for respondents were for maintaining the roads better, which were supported by 92% of respondents, and using traffic management systems to make better use of existing roads, which was backed by 89%.
Cars were by far the most frequently used form of transport: 40% of people said they never used a train and 37% never got on a bus. However, the survey showed that four our of five motorists are at least occasional public transport users. For buses a quarter of respondents cited fares, reliability and frequency as the key issues to be addressed in the next few years.
Commission Chair, Professor David Begg, said:
"This survey demonstrates that people are far more open-minded about transport issues than they are given credit for. They clearly recognise that difficult decisions need to be taken to stop congestion worsening."
"They want to see public transport being given a greater priority and they say they will use it more themselves when it is improved. They even recognise the role that congestion charging will have to play."
"These results are very encouraging to the Commission. They confirm that the general thrust of current transport policies is very much in line with public thinking."
Professor Begg said the survey results had been passed to Government already to help influence the shape of the 10 year strategy expected to be published later this month.
"People want more money spent on both roads and public transport. We are optimistic that new resources going into roads may no longer be at the expense of money for public transport."
This is the first of what will be an annual series of research by CfIT into attitudes and behaviour. Over time CfIT will be able to measure both how transport is felt to be improving and whether people are making greater use of more sustainable forms of transport.
Notes:
- The Government-appointed Commission is made up of key players from across the transport and environment sectors, including operators, manufacturers, the rail and freight sectors as well as the public sector.
- It was established a year ago to advise Government on best practice in transport, to deliver reports on key transport issues and to hold the Government to account on the delivery of the integrated transport programme
- A fact sheet highlighting some of the key findings of the research is enclosed. A copy of the full research will be available from CfIT's web site www.cfit.gov.uk
MORI survey - key findings
Current travel habits
- 83% of people drive or are passengers in a car at least once a week
- 37% never use a bus
- 40% never use a train
- 4% use a train, metro or tube daily
- 44% walk for more than 15 minutes at a time every day
What public want from the road network
- 89% support better use of existing roads through better traffic management systems
- 92% believe we should maintain roads better
- 46% oppose building more motorways and only 34% support
- 81% want better information about congestion and delays
- 65% want existing motorways widened where congested
- 64% want more bypasses built
- 49% back restricted car access to the centre of towns and cities
- 81% were opposed to more petrol price rises
Other transport needs
- 88% want improvements for pedestrians - such as better-maintained pavements, more pedestrian crossings and pedestrian areas
- 81% want improvements for cyclists - including more cycle lanes and secure parking
- 82% want subsidised public transport to keep fares down
- 78% back more park and ride initiatives
- 70% want more money invested in the rail network to remove bottlenecks
Congestion charging
- 41% back charges for people driving into city centres at peak times if fuel and vehicle excise duties are reduced. 35% opposed it
- 39% back a charge for driving into city centres at peak times if the money is invested in public transport. 41% oppose it
Technical details
MORI conducted a total of 2,024 interviews across England. Interviews were conducted face-to-face, in-home, between 12 May - 11 June 2000 in 258 constituency-based sampling points. Respondents were selected to be a representative sample of the English public aged 16+, including proportional splits by age, gender, employment status, socio-economic group and geographic region. No bias was made towards any particular group of transport users. Data are weighted to the known population profile of England.
