Charging ahead in Cardiff

Cardiff City Council says driver payments are needed to support new and greener public transport services, reports Mark

Moran

Cardiff Council sees a road user payment scheme as a way of addressing poor levels of air quality, combatting climate change, improving people’s health and reducing traffic congestion. The scheme could generate funds to deliver a greener transport network across the city with £1 bus fares, expanded bus services, new trams and more train services.

A range of schemes are being considered, including road user payments, congestion zones, clean air zones and workplace parking levies.

The council says that before any road user payment scheme is introduced enhanced public transport options would have to be up and running to help people reduce their reliance on the private car. The report warns that without the introduction of a ring-fenced road user payment it would be unlikely Cardiff will ever get the transport system it “desperately needs”.

The council has published a new report on road user charging that builds on from a Transport White Paper published in 2020 which made clear the need for major enhancements to walking, cycling and public transport options across the city, if Cardiff was to realise its climate change ambitions and reduce reliance on the private motor car. The 2020 White Paper argued for a raft of new transport options. Cheaper and better bus routes, new train and tram lines and an improved cycling network which could all help deliver a cleaner and healthier city, better able to play its part in tackling climate change.

Over the coming months and years, the council will be asking residents, business, commuters and stakeholders for their views on proposals to bring the road user payment scheme forward.

Council leader Cllr Huw Thomas said: “There are so many potential benefits at play here. Reducing carbon emissions will naturally help us tackle air pollution and climate change, but that’s not all. We also believe that a payment could help reduce congestion. The cost of congestion to the economy in Cardiff was estimated by INRIX to be £109m in 2019. If we can reduce congestion, we can improve everyone’s ability to get where they need to be in the city more quickly. This can open-up job opportunities for people and labour markets for employers, delivering a positive economic impact across the city.”

The payment options

If the new report’s ideas are agreed by Cardiff Council’s cabinet, the council will consider a range of road payment schemes including, but not limited to, road user payments; congestion zones; clean air zones; and workplace parking charges. It would also determine, in consultation with the public, on what a ‘fair and equitable’ payment might look like.

The project work will also consider any local users that may need to be exempt, reimbursed, or who qualify for discounts. It will seek to reduce impacts on the poorest residents, and on regular users in the city and region. An example of this is London, where residents qualify for a 90% discount on the congestion charge if they live within the ULEZ zone.

Paving the way

To help reassure the public that a road user payment could play a part in helping deliver change, the new report recommends that key transport improvements should be up and running in advance of any payment being introduced in Cardiff.

Cardiff Council would work in partnership with the Welsh Government, and use both grant funding and borrowing on future income from the scheme, to enhance public transport to help people reduce their reliance on the private car.

Initiatives that could be available before any road user payment was introduced include:

• the introduction of £1 bus fares on key routes

• better and expanded bus services

• the delivery of the Phase 1 tram from Central Station to Pierhead Station in the Bay, Coryton and City Line frequency enhancements

• improvements to regional commuting.

Once any scheme is introduced, the money raised, alongside government funding contributions, could then help bring forward the following initiatives:

• a Metro city-wide tram system including Crossrail in city area and Circle line

• a prioritised bus network across the city with reliable turn-upand-go services – targeting a 100% increase in bus ridership

• delivery of an electric bus and taxi fleet

• support for the development of wider regional commuter/shopper Metro and bus network

• the completion of the Eastern Bay Link, which in conjunction with enhancements to the city centre highway network would enable better traffic flow around the wider city circumference

• sustainable travel incentives such as travel discounts, tickets, bike purchase vouchers.

Cllr Dan De’Ath, Cardiff’s cabinet member for transport and strategic planning, said: “Many major UK cities have already taken, or are currently considering this step. A form of road user payment helps achieve their low carbon, clean air, and transport aims and objectives. In consultation with residents, businesses, and commuters, we want to explore how such a payment could provide funds which – when considered as part of wider funding arrangements – could completely transform the transport offer in Cardiff. We want the people of Cardiff to help us build this new future together.”

Cardiff’s poor air quality

Currently, road transport is responsible for 40% of C02e (carbon) emissions in Cardiff. This is the joint highest C02e figure measured for road transport among the UK’s 11 core cities, which include Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, and Sheffield.

It is estimated that air pollution reduces average life expectancy in the UK by 7-8 months. In towns and cities with air pollution levels above the UK average, including Cardiff, this figure is likely to be even higher. Evidence indicates that air pollution affects us all and is associated with impacts on lung development in children, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and exacerbates asthma, among other ill-health effects.

Cardiff, in particular, is a victim of this with a higher prevalence of asthma than the European average. Seven per cent of adults in Cardiff have been diagnosed with asthma, and over 9,000 Cardiff residents are registered with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Six percent of children aged 10-14 have asthma in Wales

Leading the way on road pricing

Cardiff Council leader Huw Thomas sets the scene

Cardiff Council knows our residents want action on climate change and they want the air their children and their loved ones breathe to be cleaner. We know residents want to see electric buses and taxis serve the city, to have new train/tram links and stations, to drive on better maintained roads, with safe cycling and walking routes. We know they see the queues of traffic and know the damage this is causing to their health and the environment, whilst also strangling the city’s economy. It’s clear that action is needed if we are going to change the dial on this. Reducing these figures will require us to look at the way we live and the way we travel.

Cardiff needs and deserves a cleaner and a greener transport system. However, funding this will likely only be possible by the introduction of some form of low-cost road user payment which would have exemptions for those least able to pay. Before any such scheme was introduced, we will clearly have to make improvements to the current transport system so people have options to reduce their reliance on the car.

We would need better, enhanced, and cheaper bus routes, alongside improvements to regional commuting options, and visible signs of a new tram network in the city. A working public transport system can have a hugely positive impact on those who have to travel by road. And our transport system certainly does not work for the huge numbers of people who rely on it the most. The people and communities who rely on public transport are often the worst served by our bus and train services. They are also breathing the dirtiest air and suffering the worst rates of childhood asthma and other illnesses. Improving our transport system is essential if we are to connect some of our most disadvantaged communities with the opportunities that are available in the city.

I understand that there will be those who say that ‘This is just another tax when the country is facing a cost-of-living crisis?’ So let me address that head on. The current levels of traffic in Cardiff are costing the average resident hundreds upon hundreds of pounds each year and holding our economy back. That’s on top of the environmental and health damage caused by congestion. So, it’s imperative that we create a transport system where everyone – in particular our poorest and most disadvantaged communities – can be better connected with the jobs and opportunities we know are available in the city.

We also know that, in Cardiff, the lowest levels of car ownership are amongst young people, those who are disabled, those living in the southern arc and those from a minority ethnic background. As a result, they are entirely reliant on public transport. So, the people that are being hit the hardest by the cost-of-living crisis now will be the ones that benefit the most if a scheme is introduced in four of five years’ time, when hopefully we will all face a better economic climate.