Stress Free Transport
Conservative botched programmes of privatisation have left Britain's transport infrastructure in a mess. Labour have had three terms in government to sort it out. They have failed. The CPA number one priority is to make the systems we have work. This means finding out why the record is so unreliable and then doing something about it. Improving the efficient use of existing bus, rail and road capacity is as much a management issue as investment.
Clear lines of responsibility will be established by the CPA for the whole rail network. This will be at the lowest level best placed to reach a good decision, rather than leaving issues like timetabling to Whitehall, who interfere too much. This will make possible effective solutions to the problem of excessive fares, the endemic short-termism over railway investment, which is down to the the short-length of railway franchises, and the case for allowing train operators to own their rolling stock, rather than having them pay separate rolling stock companies.
Business knows the real costs of stressed out and often late employees. But rising fares will not pay for the work needed to bring transport into the 21st century. The CPA therefore favours hypothecated precepts on business to help pay for major capital investment in the cities, such as London. Adhoc deals which lack transparency, such as Labour's deal with the City and business over London's Crossrail, are not in the public interest. Additionally, we will use Peoples Bonds to raise new finance and give the public a stake in transport improvements.
Traffic movements around cities will be made faster by investing in orbital coach systems, served by a necklace of transfer points at radial roads and motorways. This will create an ecologically-efficient and economic alternative to the car.We will reduce transport demand and congestion by making walking and cycling real choices. Congestion charging and road pricing will be used to manage peak car movements, in return for new investment in public transport.
