Lobby group, Campaign for Better Transport (CBT), formerly known as Transport 2000, has stuck its boot into UK government policy, saying that urgent action is needed to avoid ”traffic hell.”
By 2031, says CBT, the government predicts 5.7m more cars on the roads ” a growth of 21%. To put this into context, CBT says that if these cars were parked, they would fill a 52-lane motorway from Edinburgh to London ” with a distance of 20ft between each vehicle.
”We can”t go on like this ” traffic is destroying our communities, our health and our environment,” says CBT executive director, Stephen Joseph. ”The Government must stop catering for all this traffic and instead give people and businesses good alternatives to driving."
”Campaign for Better Transport will continue the organisation”s long-standing role of coming up with practical solutions to transport problems.”
The lobby group has compiled a list of the ”top 10 traffic hotspots” ” the places where traffic has increased the most significantly in the last decade (see map pictured above).
Some six solutions have been put forward by CBT, for the government to tackle traffic. These are to: incentivise public transport and improve infrastructure; incentivise changing travel patterns; create real travel choices in new developments; promote investment in rail freight; promote better integration of walking and cycling; and reduce road building and introduce road pricing.
CBT started as Transport 2000 in 1973. Its goal is to lobby for: ”transport that improves our quality of life and reduces our environmental impact.”