At what cost can we keep our vehicles on the road?

As if escalating insurance costs and soaring fuel prices aren’t enough of a financial burden for motorists to bear, there is now the possibility of having to pay to travel on some of the country’s major roads.

In putting forward the proposal of tolls, the Confederation of British Industry advocates ‘bold measures’ to ease the burden of ‘clogged-up-roads’.

We’re all conscious of congestion, hence initiatives to encourage drivers to ditch their vehicles for some journeys and either opt for public transport or cycle to their destination.

Under the proposals, the CBI has suggested that England’s road network should be taken out of the Government’s budget.

Users would have a proportion of their motoring taxes converted to a user charge – which would be controlled by an independent ‘roads regulator’ – to access the strategic road network comprising the country’s motorways and major A roads.

This charge would be shared between private operators – licensed by the regulator – who would operate regional sections of the network. But the CBI said that in the long-term the charge alone might not be sufficient to finance bigger projects needed to maintain the road network.

Private operators would have to pay for such projects through long-term borrowing, which could require additional charges to motorists, such as tolling. The regulator would continue to cap charges and manage the overall cost burden on drivers.

The CBI says private investment is necessary as there is a £10 billion shortfall in funding for Highways Agency projects and there is also the likelihood of a decline in motoring tax revenue due to increasingly efficient new vehicles.

The CBI added that the UK economy was already losing up to £8 billion a year from congestion on the roads, with this figure possibly rising to £22 billion by 2025.

But Alan Pattison, managing director of Bradford logistics firm Bower Green, doesn’t believe toll roads are the answer to curbing congestion.

He says the problem with tolls is that motorists find an alternative route where they don’t have to pay, effectively pushing the congestion on to other roads. “The M6 toll road in Birmingham is like a ghost road,” says Alan.

He says his company’s vehicles are averaging 150,000 miles annually. “If you put that into how many times we go up and down the M1 or M62, charges would be clocking up at a rate of knots,” adds Alan.

While his drivers have to pay to travel on the Continent, foreign truck drivers can use Britain’s roads for free.

“What we should be doing is getting the revenue from the foreign trucks. They should be charged as soon as they get into Britain, whether it be built into the ferry cost and the Government gets it back from the ferry companies or the Channel Tunnel,” suggests Alan.

Stuart Darvill from long-standing family-run Bradford removal firm Darvills, says British hauliers are already paying more than private motorists through tax on their HGVs and operators’ licences. Like other motorists, they have also been hit hard at the petrol pumps.

“If anything, they could do with bringing less charges,” says Stuart, who suggests that if tolls are brought in on some of Britain’s major routes, other savings should be brought in for hauliers such as sanctions on diesel.

“If there are going to be certain road tolls, they need to be able to make other ways for hauliers to make a living,” he says.

Stuart says that to remain competitive Darvills hasn’t increased its costs, but it may be forced to if toll roads are introduced.

“Everything has to be delivered by road. Everybody will eventually feel it because if the hauliers have to put the prices up, the shops have to put the prices up as well,” he says.

CBI director-general John Cridland says: “Every day, people up and down the UK lose time and money because of our clogged-up roads. Gridlock is an all-too-familiar tale of life in the UK, and one that is already costing us £8 billion a year.

“With public spending checked, the case for new funding solutions is even more compelling, and the Government recognises this.

“Infrastructure matters to business, and delivering upgrades to our networks is one of the highest priorities for the CBI to get the economy moving again.

“It’s clear we need a gear change in how we manage and pay for our road network in the 21st century. A lack of investment means we are really struggling to increase road capacity, let alone maintain what we already have.”