Thursday, 5 September, 1991
Political gridlock
T
HERE is nothing more fundamental to London's quality of life now than movement on road and rail. So two stories today the proposed widen- ing of the M25 ring road and investment in the Under- ground affect directly every citizen. There are two philosophies on trial. Will the proposed new 14-lane super-highway actually ease traffic congestion or in- crease it? And does the Underground need more pub- lic money, or should the Government compel manag- ers to make it efficient and profitable at existing sub- sidy levels? The lesson we have learned about roads is that they attract traffic. When the M25 was conceived, planners no doubt believed that it would be used mainly by drivers who sought to avoid London on the way north, south, east and west. But they did not reckon on the massive stream of drivers who used the road to hop between the outer London suburbs. Had they done so, they might have built far fewer entry and exit ramps and there might not now be a need for an unsightly, £2.8 billion super-road.
On the Underground, the argument is simply about money. Should we raise fares to a level which will make the service more economically viable and in- crease efficiency? Or substantially increase govern- ment subsidies? Nearly half the funds going to the Tube are spent on extending, not maintaining, the sys- tem. The Monopolies and Mergers Commission has backed London Underground in their demands for doubling the annual public investment on the Tube over the next ten years. Neither approach provides the full answer. So, both policies should be applied, at least until the Underground is judged to be running well. Then fares should be used as the chief mecha- nism with which to maintain the system. What we must never return to is the old habit of simply lashing out huge sums of public money to be squandered by incompetent management.
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