RSTA News
One area where the present or incoming government should not be looking at to make cuts in order to balance the nation’s books is our road network warns the Roads Surface Treatments Association (RSTA). The discrepancy between what central government takes in road and transport taxation and what it spends on road construction and maintenance is already huge and needs to be narrowed if the safety and efficiency of our roads are to be improved.
Motorists contribute a massive £45 billion every year to the chancellor in the form of fuel tax, vehicle excise duty and VAT yet only £7.5 billion is invested into the road network. The result of this shortfall is a deteriorating national and local network that is increasingly unable to cope with the demands placed upon it. The warning from the RSTA comes as the government has announced that it wants to halve its budget deficit – expected to reach £175 billion this year – within four years.
Representing many local authorities, consultants and the vast majority of companies involved in the day-to-day maintenance of the UK’s highway infrastructure, RSTA is well placed to understand the problem of under-spending on our roads. "An efficient road network is fundamental to the economic performance of the UK," explained Howard Robinson, chief executive of the RSTA. "Road congestion costs the UK some £20 billion a year". With the Department for Transport calculating that by 2015 traffic will have grown by over 30% compared to 2000 levels the national costs of an inadequate road network can only rise further.
