Opinion: Why the boss of Transport for North is wrong to target motorists Car News

How disappointing that the new CEO of Transport for the North, Martin Tugwell, marked his arrival in this important post with, in my opinion, a lazy attack on motorists. Tugwell wants an “open conversation,” according to The Guardian, about increasing the cost of the automobile to make public transport more attractive.

Millions of motorists in the north of England will likely wonder what planet Tugwell is on, as 72% of the cost of every liter of fuel they buy is already going into the treasury in the form of fuel tax or VAT. .

This is a concern for those who live in rural areas, where bus and train services will forever be almost non-existent, although Tugwell acknowledged that the conversation was not easy and that he did not want to “deprive the right to vote ”of people living in less dense areas. populations.

In some ways, it’s hard not to pity Tugwell and TfN, an organization that was launched with great optimism in 2015 to bring greater consistency to the construction of roads and railroads as part of the Northern Powerhouse project. .

In 2019, the government approved a 30-year, £ 30 billion road program for the north, including the doubling of the A66 at Scotch Corner, a Trans-Pennine tunnel to relieve traffic in the Peak District, as well as as improvements to the Manchester NW Quadrant Motorway.

Around this time, TfN’s director of roads, Peter Molyneaux, made some positive rumors about the economic benefits of the new roads, which under Treasury rules demand a refund of £ 1.50 for every £ 1 spent.

Encouragingly, the A66 doubling has even entered the Highways Agency’s RIS2 strategic routes program for 2020-2025.

However, progress on the rail has been slow and the puzzle over the northern extension of HS2 is still unsolved.

The reality, however, is that Tugwell is leading a toothless tiger. TfN has not been given control of a huge budget for rail and road programs, which remain under central government administration, through organizations like the Highways Agency and Network Rail, while the management budget TfN’s annual year has been cut in half to £ 6million.

With very little to do with consequence, Tugwell seems to have chosen plan B: let’s advertise by attacking the same motorists whose taxes pay on his salary.

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