Road pricing debate is back on agenda

A pay-as-you-drive scheme would help tackle congestion hotspots in the West Midlands, one of the region's transport chiefs has told Parliament.

The debate on road pricing was reignited by Advantage West Midlands chief executive Mick Laverty. Giving evidence to the Commons Transport Select Committee on the national major road network, he declared his support of the introduction of the controversial scheme.

"It is one of a number of things you would want in your tool kit," he said of road pricing. "It is not necessarily the answer.

"There are things you can do about targeting hotspots.

"It is a big issue and it's an issue with many different views," he said.

"One of the things we would say is it very much depends on the situation you start off with.

"London has a very good public transport system. That can't be said of some other parts of the country."

And he warned MPs the UK's road network was inadequate to cope with the demands of the economy.

He said: "There is a lot of evidence that congestion on the network is a major drag on the UK economy. The projections are that that congestion will get worse.

"You need a whole variety of tools to tackle the congestion issue. Building new roads may be part of it.

"A national transport plan that integrated all the various modes, looking 30 years ahead, would be fantastic," he added.

Plans to expand the tram system into Brierley Hill and further into Wolverhampton have been left in tatters since a unanimous decision by transport chiefs last year, not to force congestion charging on the region's motorists.

As a result, almost £400 million from the Government's Transport Innovation Fund was denied.

The project appeared to be dead in the water in December after voters in Manchester – the only area where transport chiefs spearheaded a drive to bring in road pricing – overwhelmingly rejected plans for a congestion charging scheme.