Keith Taylor, Green MEP for the South East, claims the
Government's new transport infrastructure strategy [1] will only
result in more traffic, more congestion and more pollution.
Mr Taylor, a member of the European Parliament's Environment and
Transport Committees, said:
"The Government’s new ‘Transport Investment Strategy’ has the
by-line ‘Moving Britain Ahead’, but in reality, it’s a plan that
ensures we will lag behind our European neighbours. While France
has set out its strategy to ban petrol and diesel cars by 2040
and Denmark’s cycling boom continues apace the Conservatives are
promising an outrageously costly investment that will take
Britain even further away from achieving our environmental
commitments.
Time and again it’s been demonstrated that if you sow roads,
you reap traffic. Yet the government has recommitted to an
already outdated ‘build more roads’ strategy. It makes no sense
to pump billions into expensive infrastructure projects that are
doomed to fail, even on their own terms, instead of investing in
less costly and more effective sustainable mobility
initiatives.
We can’t carry on down this same old road. We need to think
much more holistically about networks, about end-to-end journeys
and about sustainable mobility and we need to deliver a system
that is fit for purpose – low carbon, less polluting and truly
interconnected. We need innovation, we can’t simply build our way
out of this issue.
The alternatives aren’t pie in the sky, there are so many
examples, from Europe and beyond, where transport systems have
been transformed. As a member of the European Parliament, I’ve
seen first-hand how other cities, like Copenhagen and Vienna,
have been able to create subsidised, efficient and reliable
transport networks that allow residents the freedom to drive
less, improving congestion and air pollution issues.
I will continue working with my Green colleagues in the
EU to advocate for more forward-looking mobility solutions
that will enable our societies and economies across Europe to
work better in the 21st century."
ENDS
