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RAC: ‘build more roads’
07 November 2008
The RAC Foundation has released a report that argues the case for building and developing more roads in Britain.
“Common perceptions about road building are too often wide of the mark,” says Stephen Glaister, Director of the RAC Foundation, “road building, if well designed, can be a cost effective way of improving mobility for all, without having a material effect on climate change.”
The RAC says there are too many negative myths - supported by the mainstream media – about building more roads.
The organisation’s report insists that building more roads will not have a significant effect on climate change, so long as wider policy measures like road pricing are introduced alongside it.
It also argues that Britain is not so congested that new roads simply clog up with traffic as soon as they open – and says that roads are a far more efficient use of land space than railways in terms of the number of travellers carried.
Building roads also benefits low-income groups, despite arguments to the contrary. The RAC points out that 92 percent of the population rely on roads and cars for travel.
Motorists more than pay their way too. Road users pay £45 billion pounds a year in motoring related taxes. This dwarfs the cost of running the road network (which costs roughly £10 billion per year).
“It is essential that sensitively designed new road capacity features alongside plans to develop housing, utilities and public transport” concludes Glaister. “The myths and the merits of roads need to be recognised.”
Will Powell
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