Road funding prioritised over sustainable transport, research suggests

According to research by the Campaign for Better Transport, new transport funding is directed towards new roads over sustainable transport.

The research examined spending on transport projects by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and found that spending on roads was deemed more vital than funding for implementing greener means of transport.

Data showed that 50 per cent of new transport projects spend had been allocated for new road capacity and two thirds of all bids on road-based schemes. However, only three per cent was spent on walking and cycling.

Bridget Fox of the Campaign for Better Transport said: “Our research clearly shows that the balance of proposed LEP funding is still far too heavily weighted to new roads. What we need to see is a much more joined-up approach to transport planning, with a modern public transport system connecting people’s homes with their place of work.”

Fox also called on LEPs to be more ‘transparent’ and ‘accountable’ in how they spend their money, and recommended that more local people should be involved in deciding how projects are selected.

“Many new road schemes are at best unnecessary and at worst are damaging in environmental and social terms: LEPs would serve the local economy better with more investment in alternative sustainable transport options.”