Election 2010: what each party is promising
Everyone is competing for your vote in the May general election. But what would each party do to improve transport in your area and across the country?
We've pored over their speeches and read each press release between the lines, so we've got a pretty good idea of what they're proposing. We can't tell you how to vote, but we can tell you what you're likely to get if any of the main three parties wins.
Transport funding
National transport
Local transport
How would each party reform transport funding?
Transport funding will be the biggest challenge facing the three parties, alongside reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport. Each party will be looking for policies that are affordable, cut CO2 and support local communities as they come out of recession.
Labour: Would introduce an Urban Challenge Fund (unknown funding – to be top sliced from DfT budget), a Green Infrastructure Bank (open to any ‘green’ scheme - £2b, half from private investment) and continued support for workplace parking levies.
Conservatives: Would introduce a Transport Carbon Reduction Fund (paid for by what ever is left from cancelled Congestion Transport Innovation Fund of £200m but dependent on spending review). Conservatives oppose workplace parking levies but would not block Nottingham’s pilot scheme.
Lib Dems: Would introduce a UK Infrastructure Bank to expand transport infrastructure, and a Future Transport Fund (funded by lorry road user charging) to cover green transport infrastructure and a Rail Expansion Fund (funded by cancelling the road building programme) of nearly £3bn for rail improvement and expansion projects.
What are each of the parties' plans for national transport?
None of the parties is planning a major road building programme, but Labour and the Conservatives want to target 'bottlenecks', while the Liberal Democrats would scrap road building altogether and fund rail improvements instead. Whoever wins, rail franchises are likely to be longer, which each party hopes would encourage the train companies to invest more.
Labour: Electrification of London-Swansea, Liverpool-Manchester and London-Sheffield lines. Also promised 1,300 new carriages and to make new franchises longer. Committment to funding Crossrail. Passengers guaranteed the cheapest fare. Franchises open to not-for-profit groups.
Conservatives: Major reform of Network Rail with smaller ‘supervisory board’ including passenger representative. The Office of Rail Regulation would become a ‘Passenger Champion’. There would be less Government / DfT involvement in new rolling stock and timetabling. Franchises would be extended to 15-20 years. "Support" for electrifying the Swansea-London line and for Crossrail.
Lib Dem: Would establish a Rail Expansion Fund of nearly £3bn for rail improvement and expansion projects. Would reduce future regulated rail fares by 1% in real terms each year (i.e. an increase of RPI -1%) through changes in franchise agreements with train companies. Would lengthen franchises. No mention of Crossrail or electrification in manifesto.
Labour: A Y-shaped high-speed line between London and Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, with connecting spur to Heathrow. Labour is also planning to expand Heathrow airport.
Conservatives: A high-speed line connecting London and Heathrow with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, as an alternative to expansion at Heathrow, with a second stage to Wales, the North East and Scotland.
Lib Dems: High-speed line as alternative to aviation expansion and with links to mainland Europe.
Labour: A £6b programme to widen trunk roads and introduce hard-shoulder running on motorways. Lord Adonis has ruled out a programme of major road building, envisaging additional capacity provided by high-speed rail.
Conservatives: Targeted road building and plans to make best use of existing road space. They have discussed funding new lanes and bypasses through tolls and pledged to end central government funding for fixed speed cameras (but might be less opposed to the average speed cameras being introduced by Boris Johnson in London). Would consult again on a fuel duty stabiliser (the previous consultation closed in December 2008).
Lib Dems: Would cancel the road building programme, and introduce revenue neutral road user charging with abolition of VED and cuts in fuel duty, and reductions in fuel duty in remote rural areas.
Aviation and airport expansion
Labour: Support for a third runway at Heathrow but no other runways within next five years. Otherwise expansion as in 2003 Air Transport White Paper. Aviation emissions to be capped at 2005 levels by 2050.
Conservatives: Support for regional airport expansion, oppose Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted expansion, reform air passenger duty to encourage switch to fuller and "cleaner" planes.
Lib Dems: Support for regional airport expansion, oppose expansion in the south east, replace air passenger duty with per-plane duty with an additional higher rate on domestic flights.
What are the parties' plans for local transport?
Labour and the Lib Dems want to give greater power to Local Authorities to decide what sort of bus services they want in their area, whereas the Conservatives prefer a deregulated, partnership approach. All three parties have proposed investment in electric vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport, although the Committee on Climate Change has warned that we will still have to drive less in future.
Labour: Continued support for Quality Contracts and plans for further bus regulation. Would work with Competition Commission to rule out excess profits, and introduce longer notice periods for bus operators wishing to cancel a service. Ministers have described 1980s bus deregulation as “botched”. Smartcards for better intergration between bus and other forms of public transport.
Conservatives: Would scrap Quality Contracts and encourage partnerships and voluntary agreements between bus operators and councils. Are also considering lengthening the notice period for de-registering services.
Lib Dems: Would re-introduce bus regulation and give councils greater control over pricing and planning of services, for instance linking premium services with less-profitable routes, run a £140m "bus scrappage" scheme, and bring in stop on request nigh buses.
Labour: Committment to tram schemes in Nottingham, Birmingham, Tyne and Wear, Manchester, and a trolley bus in Leeds.
Electric and low-carbon vehicles
Labour: Grant for electric cars, investment in 100,000 charging stations.
Conservatives: Investment in charging stations.
Lib Dems: Zero carbon target for all new cars by 2040, enforced by a combination of incentives and penalties (such as toughening restrictions on new cars).
Labour: Continued support for cycling demonstrations towns and city, committed funding for Cycling England. Would encourage councils to give greater priority to walking and cycling in local transport plans and more flexibility for local councils to introduce 20mph over a wider area. Would continue with a comprehensive review of cycle safety. Triple cycle parking at stations.
Conservatives: Greater freedom for local initiatives and review of guidance on highway and street design so that professionals “think cycle”.
Lib Dems: Decent cycle parking in new developments and on new trains and coaches. Would increase funding for safe routes to schools and smarter choices programmes.
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