Natasha Asghar MS raises the alarm about the costs of a congestion charge for drivers in Wales
Without a strong transport network, you cannot have a strong economy. So when it comes to this, why is the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay determined to act against Wales’ best interests?
We are all aware of how Transport for Wales has become renowned for its many delayed and cancelled trains and its inferior carriages as well as the complete ministerial mismanagement of Cardiff Airport, which is in terminal decline, but it’s Labour’s attitude towards cars and roads that trouble me most.
There does seem a grand plan to make using a car impossible despite our nation being so ill-equipped to offer any meaningful public transport alternatives.
The cancellation of the M4 relief road – which only came after £150m had been spent on an ignored study that showed one was needed – and the imposition of a default nationwide 20mph speed limit that will cost the economy £4.5bn in addition to the £33m to implement the change is only the start, I fear.
A congestion charge has long been regarded by some in the First Minister’s team, particularly the Deputy Climate Change Minister Lee Waters, as the stick to break the driver’s back.
There does seem a grand plan to make using a car impossible despite our nation being so ill-equipped to offer any meaningful public transport alternatives.
And just like it is doing with a tourism tax, the Labour Government might give the power to introduce a congestion charge to local authorities so it can escape the backlash itself.
I am concerned by increased chatter about such a scheme among the well-to-do that occupy ministerial office in Cardiff Bay. There are four principal reasons why.
First, it will be a tax on workers. The congestion charge is usually spoken about in regard to our capital city. When the idea has been floated in the last few years, it’s always been along the lines that no Cardiff residents will have to pay. Just private vehicles that come from elsewhere.
So, all those people who must travel here for work will have to pay an extra tax for the privilege.
And where will they be travelling from? The Valleys. After a quarter of a century of Labour rule and a failure to regenerate often deprived communities through economic development in these areas, thousands must still travel to Cardiff to make a living.
So, it would allow Cardiff Council to tax those people who do not even live in the local authority. People who hail from poorer areas.
And how much would they be expected to pay for each visit? Two, five, ten, twenty pounds? How much is that a week?
The London charge is £15 per day. Over the course of a year, that is 8.2% of the average salary of £44,000, if commuting Monday to Friday. If Cardiff charged 8.2% of its average salary, where it is £30,000, that would be £7.30 per working day.
Therefore, if someone commuted from somewhere like Merthyr Tydfil, that £7.30 per day would amount to 10% of the average Merthyr wage. You’re considered in fuel poverty if you spend 10% or more of your income on just heating your home.
Innovative. Informed. Independent.
Your support can help us make Wales better.
Now, imagine the congestion charge on top of that. No wonder Labour backbenchers are getting worried.
Second, this is all carrot and no stick. Using the car becomes more difficult through government action, yet that same government is totally failing to provide better, greener options. The population of Wales isn’t stupid – it knows climate change is an issue that needs dealing with, and I am certain they want to be part of the solution.
But they cannot. And while cleaner ways of travelling is claimed to be the imperative behind the idea, there’s no talk of electric vehicles being exempt either.
One proposal that might actually make a congestion charge more palatable for these communities would be the Cardiff Parkway station, a huge hub that would allow those travelling from my own region of South Wales East to park up and train into the city.
Sounds great right? Then why did the Labour Government call in the project, very late in the process, much to the annoyance of Labour-run Cardiff Council?
And while there are exciting plans for a South Wales Metro and a serious attempt to reform bus services across through a franchising model forthcoming, these are years, if not decades, away.
The former will also be of little benefit for those in North, Mid, and West Wales and the latter will be of little help in cities when routes cannot recover to pre-pandemic patronage due to public sector working-from-home policies and road congestion still remains high.
The answer to congestion in our towns and cities and addressing climate change does not lie in punishing car owners for doing something completely legal, ordinary, and necessary.
Third, a congestion charge will not address the underlying issue. Roads in cities are clogged because while the number of cars on the road has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, the road space has been lessened. The installation of bike lanes is a welcome development in the name of cyclist safety, but it’s been done in a terrible way.
Not only have organisations that represent the blind complained because those alighting buses are not stepping onto a pass, but into a lane bike traffic, but those buses are getting increasingly unreliable because these lanes have created chronic pinch points that hugely slow down the flow of traffic. So now buses join trains as unviable alternatives.
Fourth, the costly 20mph default limit and the mad roadbuilding freeze – over a year old now – has only compounded these issues. The fire does not need more fuel. This war on drivers has become unrelenting and there will be no victors.
The answer to congestion in our towns and cities and addressing climate change does not lie in punishing car owners for doing something completely legal, ordinary, and necessary. It lies in incentivising people to change their behaviour.
But that cannot, must not, mean engineering an environment to make driving a worse experience, but making public transport and active travel a better one.
It may be easier said than done, but it is a vision with far more public consent than the dogmatic approach of the Labour Government which, if it continues as it does, will soon run out of road.
All articles published on the welsh agenda are subject to IWA’s disclaimer.
