REGIONAL transport activists roundtable 4/9/07

Dr Mike Mitchell, head of the rail group at the Department for Transport has invited NGOs to comment on the Rail White Paper.

Transport activists believe there is too much stress on economic issues rather than the environment.

The DfT has invited 10 environmental groups to a seminar on transport and the environment but Railfuture and CTC are not included.

There is growing interest in congestion charging. Even Manhattan is interested and there is evidence that fears of work place parking charges having a detrimental effect on business are unfounded.

The cost of the Bexhill-Hastings relief road has gone up to £98million from the original estimate of £47million. Including the cost of a link road to a new development, the total cost is now £114million.

CORE transport activists roundtable 12/9/07

Transport 2000 has rebranded itself the Campaign for Better Transport. The DfT Transport & Environment seminar with Ruth Kelly discussed biofuels and the European Trading Scheme for aviation. The DfT is taking responses to the Eddington and Stern reviews seriously and seems to be accepting that dealing with transport and environmental issues may not be so costly as had been supposed.

An activists group met Graham Pendlebury, the DfT official responsible for environmental and international affairs.

Phase 2 of Dr Jillian Anable's paper will soon be published. It counteracts the view expressed by Stern that tackling transport’ s contribution to climate change is too difficult to tackle.

CBT are again hosting Climate Clinics at party political conferences. They will focus on bringing road and air costs in line with bus and rail, improving rail and bus links and establishing a carbon reduction fund.

Appraisal of road and rail schemes unfair: TAR groups have met with the Government and stressed that rail and bus schemes will always take second place to road schemes due to the way economic benefits are measured and the lack of social and environmental values.

The aviation tourism deficit is now estimated to be £l7billion a year. CBT have launched a new website at Better Transport.org.uk which will include transport statistics.

Transport taxation group 14/9/07

A study by Keith Buchan has found that since 1983, average lorry payloads have fallen from 14•1 tonnes to l1.75 tonnes while lorry weights increased.

30% of Heathrow passengers are on transfer flights. Aviation forecasts are based on oil prices falling to 42 dollars a barrel. The DfT now prices a tonne of C02 at £84 but Stern indicates the true cost is £280 per tonne.

Norman Bradbury 18/9/07