WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT'S TEN-YEAR PLAN FOR TRANSPORT?

In 2000, the Government wrote,

"This country needs better transport less congested roads and modern, affordable and reliable public transport.  Our transport system and services have suffered from decades of under-investment.  The result is overcrowding, congestion, delays, pollution and a lack of choice of how to travel.  Problems which every one of us recognise and which are indeed intensified by Britain's growing economic success.

There's no easy, quick solution to turning this round.  It needs investment in our roads, railways and bus services on a scale not seen before.  The vision is for journeys that are quicker and more convenient by making it easier to switch between different forms of transport.  We are determined to make journeys safer and to reduce the impact of travel on our environment.

Transport 2010 is our long-term strategy for delivering a quicker, safer, more punctual and environmentally friendly transport system.  It sets out an ambitious but realistic view of what can be achieved over the next ten years.

Transport 2010 builds on the foundations put in place since the Integrated White Paper.  And it stresses the role of partnership with the private sector and local government in modernising our transport network."

Our goal is to transform our transport system over the next 10 years, tackling congestion and pollution, increasing choice and raising standards to make travel safer, more attractive and accessible to all.  Good transport is essential to a better environment and our quality of life."

The over-arching motive for the Government's ten-year plan for transport was stated as:

"...investment in the future to create prosperity..."

The strategy for transport was set out as to tackle congestion and pollution by improving all types of transport-rail and road, public and private - in ways that increase choice.  It is a strategy for investment in the future to create prosperity and a better environment.

This requires a new approach, based on:

• integrated transport: looking at transport as a whole, matching solutions to specific problems by assessing all the options
• public and private partnership: government and the private sector working more closely together to boost investment
• new projects: modernising our transport network in ways that make it bigger, better, safer, cleaner and quicker.