IG Transport

 

Commercial traffic

 

Fast transit of goods and freight is essential for the functioning of a vibrant economy. Time is money. An estimated 123 million working hours are lost annually due to workers sitting in traffic jams, this equates to an estimated £752 million a year in lost productivity.

There are currently an estimated 450,000 Lories travelling on UK roads, most of this heavy traffic is on the motorways and results in 12.1bn km of HGV traffic on major roads in towns and cities. A recent report conducted by AIM expects that the number of Lorries on the roads will increase in the future – up 50-100% on the 1990 figure of 480,000 by 2025.

We do not believe our existing infrastructure can effectively accommodate such numbers and encourage awareness to the fact that something must be done.

IG suggests comprehensive solutions for reducing the numbers of Lorries on our roads, improving the transit time for those that are and reducing inner city congestions.

Policies

• The construction of large intercity rail projects that increase capacity and create a fast and reliable alternative for road bound freight

•  Improving and regenerating the nations vast canal system which is a workable and valuable resource linking large areas of London to the M25 zones.

Localised options include

• A reassessment of the London lorry control scheme that prevents and fines drivers of  vehicles over 18 tonnes using  certain areas of the city between
  • Monday – Friday: 9pm – 7am (including 9pm Friday night to 7am Saturday morning)
  • Saturday: 1pm – 7am Monday morning.

• Utilising the abandoned stations and sections of London’s underground rail network for commercial transport means

Adoption of such policies would reduce national motorways congestion, improve London day time traffic, rejuvenate large neglected areas of London and resurrect the canal employment sector and supporting industries. Financing for such growth would come from savings made elsewhere. By reducing the annual £752 million of lost productivity and creating employment we consider this a largely economical and profitable state venture.

 

Commuter travel and TFL

British workers are considered to have the longest commute times in Europe. Employees spend nearly 200 hours a year travelling to and from work – adding up to around five weeks extra work annually – according to a November 2011 TUC analysis of official statistics published. For Londoners this figure is slightly higher at 225 hours per year. Considering that Britons spend 15% of their disposable income on travel, paying almost twice as much for bus and train tickets as people on the continent, we at The Initiative Group believe improvements can and must be made.

The New Department for Transport figures reveal that losses on the Tube soared 15-fold from £50million in 1998 to £756million last year. Such issues must be addressed and an immediate and thorough investigation into the future running of the Tube under the public-private partnership or PPP must be launched and criminal proceedings pursued.

Daily commuters endure cramped and unpleasant conditions, contributing to stress and lack of wellness. Reducing fairs and journey times for citizens will vastly improve our quality of life and living standards as a nation. There are creative and efficient ways to in which we can reduce the travel burden.

Policies

The Initiative Group will launch Large scale independent inquires to discover the real reason why Britain’s spend large portions of their income towards a transport system that does not reflect its cost. Contracts will be discontinued and redundancies will be made where appropriate. Similar enquiries into civil engineering budgets and assessment of currently contracted road maintenance firms will be pursued to ensure that taxpayer money is not being wasted. We will endeavour to punish the mistakes of the companies who dig up our roads with fines directly related to the level of disruption caused.

National rail operators will be assessed, upgraded and decommissioned where appropriate and a high-speed maglev rail link will be constructed to connect the major cities of London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow.

We place our emphasis on Quality over quantity. We do not support the maintaining of unproductive and unnecessary jobs. Inefficiencies have been encouraged by previous governments with the intent of creating employment regardless of its productivity. Such employment is a net loss for the taxpayers of this country.

Wasteful Governmental entities will be disbanded, criminal charges will be filled against profiteers within those bodies and unions will not be allowed to disrupt plans for modernisation.

TFL

• General policy of increasing rail capacity through expansion of infrastructure and rolling stock with subsequent reduction in road stock (buses)

• The London underground should become fully modernised and automated where possible. This will reduce overall accumulated costs and improve efficiency.

• Savings made from redundancies should be instantly deducted from journey fairs.

• Carriage layouts should be assessed and a national competition for their redesign will be launched.

• During off-peak hours only half of station escalators will be operating (with exceptions) the objective being to reduce energy bills, increasing health and provide for elderly and disabled.

•  Bus routes should be reassessed with the goal of reducing the total number of busses in service improving london travel and air quality.

• Savings from all redundancies would be deducted from journey fairs.

• The abundance of bus stops obstructs traffic, slows journey times, increases fuel consumption and encourages laziness. Many of these would be removed.

Complete TFL 2012/23 budget found here

The London cycling environment should be encouraged and improved without large disruptions to existing systems. We believe creative measures can solve the cycling debate without the need for highly disruptive and expensive construction projects.

This can be achieved by

• Installing traffic lights at major junctions and busy cycling routes with “green cycle lights” these lights would signal to cyclists 10 seconds ahead of traffic to move on. This short time frame is adequate for cyclists to reach a safe and constant speed and reduce vulnerability, and “thin out” into single file avoiding the obstruction and aggravating of drivers.

•  Increase areas for safe bicycle locking and storage.

•  Red light £30 fines will only be  enforced for commercial cyclists

•  Promote cycling using proven advertising methods

•  Examine viability of cycle hire scheme (costs and benefits)

• Emphasis should be placed on awareness for Cyclists in DVLA theory and practical driving tests.

 

Creative, resourceful and efficient ways to meet the requirements of travel within Britain must be found if we are to function well as an economy and as a society.

Our policies are focused on eliminating waste, reducing costs, improving quality and promoting health and responsibility amongst the population. If implemented they will see a reduction in travel times and fairs, greatly improved air quality, a large reduction in noise pollution and road damage from busses and increased employment in productive industries.

 

Contact; Erwin@theinitiativegroup.org