Wider use of road charges and tolls should be considered by public bodies struggling to finance infrastructure projects beyond the recession, leading academics have suggested.
Researchers at the Centre for Public Service Partnerships (CPSP), part of the University of Birmingham, believe public bodies such as local authorities should consider using hypothecated tax income from new road tolls and charges for use on delayed or postponed infrastructure programmes.
The move, which would be politically controversial and unpopular with drivers and hauliers, is one of several solutions to the cashflow crisis facing regeneration projects and public-private partnerships.
The CPSP’s latest report on the recession, The impact of the credit crunch on UK infrastructure projects, states: ‘Increased charging for services might be considered further. While this could be introduced for a range of services, roads and motorways appear to be the most suitable areas. The increased use of road tolls and congestion charging, possibly linked to hypothecated spending on specified improvements, could finance infrastructure.’
But a senior Whitehall source told Surveyor such a move would require a ‘political hard sell’ by the Department for Transport and precepting authorities.
‘Targeting transport networks for taxes which may then be used on other projects, albeit transport-related projects, would be a difficult proposition to sell to transport users already encountering congestion and roads in poor condition,’ he said.
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