The Budget must put better transport choices ahead of more roads

On Wednesday, the Chancellor will set out where the country’s money goes. For transport, the choice is clear: continue down the same path or do things differently. The same path would be announcing a fuel duty freeze (for the 16th year in a row), and prioritising road building over maintenance, public transport and active travel. Transport Action Network is calling for the Budget to mark a fundamental shift: move away from expensive road expansion where the case is weak, and work towards creating a transport system that provides real alternatives to driving, maintains existing infrastructure, and meets our legal climate obligations.

The recent cancellation of 16 uncommitted and unaffordable local authority road schemes demonstrated that the Government is prepared to reconsider road schemes on affordability and value-for-money grounds. Now it must go further, and apply the same scrutiny to more local road schemes and National Highways’ roads programme.

Billions for road expansion – but at what cost?

TAN is calling for poorly performing, high-carbon road schemes to be reconsidered, freeing up funding for transport that delivers greater benefits.

Our Budget recommendations identified potential savings from cancelling schemes including the A46 Newark Bypass and A38 Derby Junctions, which could save £315 million up to 2030 and at least £1.3 billion over the longer term.

We have also asked the Government to cancel the Lower Thames Crossing (LTC), given the questions over its cost, value for money and environmental impacts as we covered in our blog post earlier this week.

Fix existing roads and improve safety

Potholes, ageing bridges and increasingly extreme weather all demand sustained investment.

Despite the Government announcing last week ahead of the Budget, that an extra £220 million will be released for pothole repairs alongside claims of record road maintenance spending, councils have so far qualified for less than half of the £525 million incentive funding theoretically available for the current financial year. The Government says further money will depend on councils meeting requirements but these are mainly requirements to publish information and follow good practice, rather than meaningful performance targets.

The Budget needs to go further and protect funding for road maintenance, road safety and climate resilience, rather than allowing major expansion projects to crowd out essential improvements. And the Government needs to set meaningful performance targets so that improvements can be measured once completed rather than using projections as results.

Give people more ways to travel

For many people, driving is the only realistic option because public transport is unreliable, unaffordable or unavailable. The Government has committed more funding to bus services, local transport and active travel, including a new cycling and walking strategy (CWIS3) with a projected £4.5 billion investment over five years. These commitments provide a foundation for progress, but their impact will depend on how effectively funding translates into better services and safer, more connected routes.

It is clear to see Andy Burnham, the new Prime Minister, has a passion for buses. The Budget is an opportunity for his Government to put its money where its mouth is and prioritise public transport.

Forty years ago the Thatcher government deregulated bus networks across the UK. Today, Burnham’s government is focusing on bringing buses back into public control. While this is a positive move, it means nothing to people if fares remain high and services unreliable. Extending the £2 bus fare cap beyond 2027 to keep public transport affordable and accessible would deliver a powerful message, especially if it is a long-term commitment that provides certainty to operators.

The Government has confirmed a new station at Bradford Interchange and continues work on Northern Powerhouse Rail, but the wider pipeline needs certainty. With Great British Railways expected to be established next year and the Railways Bill also targeted for 2027, this Budget is the perfect time to set out a long term rail strategy.

We are also calling for National Highways’ fund for walking, wheeling and cycling to be not only restored but also increased. Funding is below the levels needed to deliver CWIS ambitions as is active travel funding for National Highways in RIS3 which has almost halved since RIS2.

If the Chancellor – the 8th in 10 years – decides to do as his predecessors have and keeps the 5p cut to fuel duty, this will send all the wrong signals on transforming transport, and starve the Treasury of much needed revenue. Public transport fares need to come down, whilst the cost of motoring needs to increase inline with inflation if we are to encourage people out of their cars and offer real choice.

The importance of rail freight

More freight by rail could drastically reduce congestion on the roads. A new independent study led by Rimrose Valley Friends has found significant potential to increase the amount of freight moved by rail to and from the Port of Liverpool – with just 2% of containerised freight currently transported by rail. Meanwhile, our Essex-Kent Superlinks report on alternatives to the Lower Thames Crossing shows the potential of rail freight in removing 550,000 – 1,100,000 HGVs off our roads every year. The long talked about intervention at Ely to improve wider network capacity has a Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) of nearly 5:1, unlike the LTC which is likely to cost more than it will ever deliver in benefits.

Climate commitments must shape spending

With extreme weather events becoming more common due to climate change, it is vital that transport spending is prioritised to future proofing our vital transport networks. We will need to see a step change in funding for climate resilience to maintain the infrastructure we have and ensure these critical arteries can withstand storms, floods, winds and droughts in future years. This means improving drainage on our roads (whilst treating and removing toxic runoff too) and strengthening embankments and cuttings on our railways. This will take serious amounts of cash, but can’t happen if scarce funds are frittered away on poor-value vanity road projects.

We hope this Budget will mark a shift away from expensive road expansion where the case is weak, towards a transport system that offers better value for taxpayers, more choice for communities and a more sustainable future.

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