How disappointing that Transport for the North's new CEO, Martin Tugwell, has marked his arrival in this important job with, in my opinion, a lazy attack on motorists. Tugwell wants an "open conversation", according to The Guardian, about pushing up the cost of motoring to make public transport more attractive.
Millions of motorists in the north of England will probably wonder what planet Tugwell is on, as 72% of the cost of every litre of fuel they buy already heads towards to the Treasury as either fuel duty or VAT.
It's a worry for those in rural areas, where bus and train services will forever be almost non-existent, although Tugwell did acknowledge the conversation isn't an easy one and that he doesn't want to "disenfranchise" people living in less dense populations.
In some ways, it's hard not to feel sorry for Tugwell and TfN, an organisation that was launched with great optimism in 2015 to bring greater coherence to roads and rail building as part of the Northern Powerhouse project.
In 2019, the government rubber-stamped a £30 billion, 30-year road programme for the north, including dualling the A66 at Scotch Corner, a Trans-Pennine tunnel to relieve traffic through the Peak District, plus the Manchester NW Quadrant motorway improvements.
At that time, TfN's road director, Peter Molyneaux, made positive noises about the economic benefits of new roads, which under Treasury rules require a £1.50 payback for every £1 spent.
Encouragingly, the A66 dualling even made it into the Highways Agency's RIS2 strategic roads programme for 2020-2025.
However, progress on rail has been slow and the puzzle over the northern extension of HS2 remains unresolved.
The reality, though, is that Tugwell runs a toothless tiger. TfN has not been handed control of a huge budget for rail and road programmes, which remain under central government administration, through organisations like the Highways Agency and Network Rail, while TfN's annual management budget has been cut in half to £6 million.
With very little to do of consequence, Tugwell appears to have selected Plan B: let's get some publicity by attacking the very motorists whose taxes pay towards his salary.
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Head over Wall?, expect to get verbal abuse about a subject that includes us all, Public transport, all the statements below are valid, maybe it's an age thing?, teenagers don't really see driving as essential, they get lifts or use the Bus or Train, if everyone has cars the roads in the future will be clogged with nose to tail traffic, parking will be a nightmare and expensive,and we'll need more bigger Carparks, where will they be found?, nobody really wants to use public transport unless they really have to, you have all walks of life on public transport, some ok, some, not ok,and as said, it's not cheap, I can remember a few years back four of us decided to take a train from Castle Douglas to the Metro centre, not a long journey,but I didn't fancy driving to somewhere really busy I'd never been to, £129.00, that's what the lady said, I said...no thanks, Public transport needs to be way cheaper if the Government wants it used.
If you have the equivalent of a luxury private mobile room costing you probably £10 a day or more, sat outside your home waitng at all times of day or night, why would you ever be persuaded onto delayed, cramped, slow, inconvenient, shared, expensive public transport?
For the vast majority, public transport will never be the preferred option.
Mr Tugwell's comments are both interesting and scary. When government starts talking about 'open discussions' it normally means the 'the fix' is already in and decisions have already been made. These can then be justified on the basis "but we discussed it with you.".
I have never understood how a group of people being required to pay between 70 and 80% tax on what is often a routine and vital activity have not already rolled the Tumbrils into parliament square. Simple question; why do I pay a higher rate of tax on travelling to visit my wife in hospital than senior bankers pay on their bonuses?