Expanding London's pay-as-you-go charging for motorists is the only way to meet the huge financial and environmental pressures facing the capital's transport system, according to one of the world's leading authorities.
GE and London First's event 'Mind the Gap' brought together transport and environment experts to debate how London could meet its carbon emissions and spending targets in an age of austerity.
Leading transportation experts join the debate at GE sustainable cities conference
Expanding London's pay-as-you-go charging for motorists is the only way to meet the huge financial and environmental pressures facing the capital's transport system, according to one of the world's leading authorities.
According to Professor Stephen Glaister extending congestion charging beyond London's city centre was almost inevitable - yet 'the issue seemed to be off the agenda for serious public debate,' he said.
Speaking at a GE and London First conference 'Mind the Gap' in London yesterday, the academic at Imperial College painted a bleak picture of a transport network creaking under the weight of demands from a growing population and a financial black hole.
He told the conference that the transport network was already under severe constraints even before cut-backs announced in the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review.
'Mind the Gap' brought together transport and environment experts to debate how London could meet its carbon emissions and spending targets in an age of austerity.
Prof Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation and a former board member of Transport for London, praised a recent strategy report by Major of London Boris Johnson for identifying the problems: lack of capacity and infrastructure at a time of growing population.
But the professor warned: "The strategy document is completely unrealistic about the money. [London] doesn't have the money to invest... Repairing the Tube is turning out to be much more expensive than anyone thought."
Problems involved in upgrading the Tube network, and financing Crossrail and Thameslink "would have emerged even without the spending crisis," he said.
Now, London has no financial "room for manoeuvre."
Efficiency savings have already been made; cuts in subsidies are possible, but this is not easy when [subsidies] are tied into long-term contracts; fares could rise - but are already rising anyway; significant delays to improving the Tube are inevitable, piling more pressure onto the transport system.
"But, there is a solution which no one will talk about," Prof Glaister said. "Extend road charging to the rest of London. This is the only way to deal with the [spending] cuts and meet environmental commitments. It would give him [the Mayor] £30bn of capital on day one."
Other transport experts at the conference agreed that the problems were urgent. "These are issues for today," said Colin Walton, UK and Ireland chairman of trainmaker Bombardier Transportation. "They are issues that you cannot put off for another day."
He believed that the "current climate is ripe for trains". Acknowledging that some in the audience would say he had a vested interest, Mr Walton said: "Trains are environmental and sustainable, whether inter-city or local. Rail is good value for money."
What's more, he said, the new generation of trains were vastly more efficient and environmentally friendly. "They are not just a step up, they are a step change," he said. Money might be tight, but everyone should understand that investment in infrastructure could be a huge catalyst for regeneration.
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Mark Maguire
GE
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Sara Cruz
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