RHA Chief Executive, Roger King, has warned that the public must not be drawn into a long-term government debate on road pricing, when even the Secretary of State for Transport has conceded that positive results could not be expected for at least another 10 to 15 years. Mr King said that it is perfectly clear by the state of our roads infrastructure that we cannot wait that long for remedial action to be taken.

"Road user charging should not be allowed to be considered in isolation, something must be done soonest, not in 2020" stated Roger King. He welcomed the commitment made by the Transport Secretary to "spreading the load of the traffic so that you perhaps move some of the peak time traffic away" A comment made in Mr Darling's speech when he addressed the Social Market Foundation on his vision for the future taxation and charging for operating a car.

Mr King went on to say, "The precise details of any road pricing scheme will be important and until they are revealed I think we must continue to press for improvements to the existing roads network. The government keep telling us that budgets have been allocated to carry out improvements, but we have had decades of under investment that must be dealt with if this country is to keep its business sector operational and competitive

"It is of great concern to the Road Haulage Association that the Transport Secretary has been unable to tell us how much it is going to cost to implement a road pricing scheme for all the 28 million cars and light vans that use our roads, or how those costs will be made up. The road haulage sector is already earmarked for Lorry Road User Charging within four years and yet the scheme we are to operate within is by no means cut and dried, and the LRUC will have only a mere 428,000 trucks to keep track of, 2% of the total vehicles presently registered in the UK and taxed to the hilt through the Treasury!"

"Finding a long-term solution to road congestion is to be commended, but UK plc needs action NOW!"