By Geraint Day

1. INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS
TRANSPORT POLICY COMMENT
Transport Matters
Directors’ views on some topical transport
issues
a survey of IoD members
1 Current issues
At the time of the Budget in 2005 the United Kingdom Government announced that it had
commissioned a study of its 30 year transport strategy. The Eddington Transport Study is examining
the long-term links between transport and the UK's economic productivity, growth and stability,
taking account of the Government's commitments to sustainable development and environmental
issues. The Study is now due to report to HM Treasury and to the Department for Transport (DfT)
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around the time of the Pre-Budget Report later in 2006.
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The IoD made a submission to the Eddington Transport Study at the start of 2006. As part of that
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response, IoD members' views were included, including some from a survey undertaken in 2004.
The IoD has engaged with the current Government's transport strategy consultations since 1998.
Input has been made on issues ranging from road user charging, railways, airports and ports issues
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to workplace parking proposals. The land-use planning system has cropped up in transport policy
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deliberations, with the IoD having appealed to government that delays in the system be addressed.
The IoD has also taken an interest in environmental aspects of transport policy, including climate
change related matters. Some comments on that theme were included in the IoD response to the
Eddington Study.
2 More views from IoD members
To gather some current views of IoD members, transport was one of the topics included in a survey
conducted in April and May 2006. This was a telephone survey. The IoD routinely surveys a random
sample of 500 of its members by telephone on a range of issues. The IoD has about 52 000
members. About 80% of these are directors of small or medium-sized enterprises.
The telephone surveys are carried for the IoD by GfK NOP. A random sample based in the United
Kingdom is drawn from the IoD's membership database. Quotas are applied to represent the
membership profile by broad geographic region, and by size and sector of the organisation of which
the IoD member serves as a director. Size is indicated by the number of employees.
The 2006 telephone survey covered views on different transport modes, priorities for investment,
road traffic congestion and road user charging issues, and certain aspects of the UK's railways and
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airports. After a suggestion made by the Energy Saving Trust some areas around environmental
aspects of transport practice within directors' organisations were also included.
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2. TRANSPORT POLICY COMMENT
3 Directors’ opinions on various transport modes
As a starting point members were asked which mode of transport their organisation used for
business travel. Unsurprisingly, road transport dominated the scene, as shown in the table below.
MODES OF TRANSPORT USED FOR BUSINESS TRAVEL
Mode Proportion
Cars or other motor vehicles 99%
Trains or Underground 82%
Aircraft 73%
Walking 39%
Buses 23%
Cycling 8%
Other 5%
Boat or ferry 4%
Taxis 1%
Proportion of the 500 respondents is shown
Directors were asked to rate their opinion of how well these modes met their business needs, using
a scale from 1 to 5 (1 - not at all well, to 5 - extremely well). Taking the top two rankings together (4
and 5) as denoting "well", 1 and 2 together as "not well" and omitting the three who mentioned taxis,
the findings were:-
HOW WELL TRANSPORT MODE SERVED BUSINESS TRAVEL NEEDS?
Rating Cars or other Aircraft Walking Trains or Boats or Cycling Buses
Motors Underground Ferries
Total well or 82% 72% 59% 51% 43% 34% 31%
extremely well
Total not well 4% 7% 22% 12% 5% 33% 34%
Respondents 495 366 196 412 20 42 116
Proportion of respondents is shown
Directors were asked about freight. Some 30% (152 respondents) reported that their organisation
sent freight and 70% (348) did not (one respondent did not know). The breakdown by mode of
transport was:-
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3. TRANSPORT POLICY COMMENT
MODES OF TRANSPORT USED FOR SENDING FREIGHT
Mode Proportion
Lorries, vans or other motor vehicles 92%
Water or sea 56%
Aircraft 54%
Trains 20%
Other 5%
Couriers or third party 1%
Did not know or no response 0%
Proportion of the 152 respondents is shown
As with the question on business travel directors were asked to rate their opinion on a 1 to 5 scale.
Again, taking the top two levels (4 and 5) as well, and 1 and 2 combined as not well, the results
were (omitting the small number of directors - 10 in all - who had indicated "Other"):-
HOW WELL TRANSPORT MODE SERVED FREIGHT NEEDS
Rating Lorries/vans/other motor Water/sea Aircraft Trains
Well 75% 71% 66% 27%
Not well 6% 6% 16% 44%
No. of respondents 140 85 82 30
Proportion of the152 respondents in all is shown
Rail drew the lowest level of satisfaction.
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A general question about the railways was included in the survey:-
“HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS THE STATE OF THE RAILWAYS GENERALLY, COMPARED WITH TWO YEARS
AGO?”
Opinion Proportion
Better 39%
About the same 38%
Worse 13%
Didn’t know 11%
Proportion of the 500 respondents is shown: total not 100% because of rounding
Equal proportions (about 40%) thought that they had improved over the previous two years and that
things were about the same.
4 Transport priorities
The survey included a question as to what the Government's priority for extra capacity should be.
The findings are shown in the following table.
WHICH PARTS OF THE TRANSPORT SYSTEM SHOULD BE THE GOVERNMENT’S TOP PRIORITY FOR
EXTRA CAPACITY?
Mode Proportion
Rail 52%
Road 38%
Underground 3%
Metro, e.g. Manchester Metrolink 2%
Air 1%
Inland waterways 1%
Public transport 1%
Buses 1%
Others 0%
Didn’t know 2%
Proportion of the 500 respondents is shown: total not 100% because of rounding
Rail, followed by road, came out on top of the list.
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5. TRANSPORT POLICY COMMENT
Looking at airports policy, the views about Government priorities were:-
“WHAT SHOULD BE THE GOVERNMENT’S TOP PRIORITY IN AIRPORTS POLICY?”
Priority Proportion
Improving access to overseas destinations from UK regional airports 60%
Improving access to London from UK regional airports 24%
Maintaining London’s position as a major international hub 16%
Proportion of the 500 respondents is shown
Improving access to overseas destinations from UK regional airports was seen as a priority by 60%,
compared with 24% wanting improved domestic access to London.
5 Traffic congestion and road user charging
Thirty per cent of directors estimated that road traffic congestion cost a "great deal" or "quite a lot"
to their organisation, as shown below:-
ESTIMATED COSTS TO THE ORGANISATION OF ROAD TRAFFIC CONGESTION
Opinion Proportion
A great deal 13%
Quite a lot 17%
Moderate amount 38%
None 8%
Very little 23%
Didn’t know 1%
Proportion of the 500 respondents in all is shown
The London congestion charging scheme has now been in existence for over three years. Forty four
per cent (222 directors) had experience of the London congestion charge from a business
perspective and 56% did not. Of the 222, 13% (29) were in organisations that were based within
the London congestion charge zone. The survey participants were asked about the effect of the
London congestion charge on their organisation, with the results shown as follows.
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EFFECT OF LONDON CONGESTION CHARGE ON THE ORGANISATION
Opinion Proportion
Major positive impact 1%
Minor positive impact 12%
No difference 37%
Minor negative impact 48%
Major negative impact 2%
Total positive 13%
Total negative 50%
Proportion of the 222 respondents is shown
The balance of opinion was unfavourable toward the London scheme.
The Government has been deliberating the introduction of various market mechanisms for road
traffic. These have included other congestion charge schemes around the country, as well as tolling
on motorways and major roads.
The survey explored directors' views on some of these issues. Out of the 500 surveyed 40% (199)
said that they would in principle support the introduction of congestion charge schemes in major
urban centres in the UK, with 58% (292) saying they would not. Two per cent (9 directors) were
unsure.
“TO WHAT EXTENT WOULD YOU SUPPORT IN PRINCIPLE THE INTRODUCTION OF ROAD PRICING
ON MOTORWAYS AND MAJOR ROUTES IN THE UK?”
Opinion Proportion
Support strongly 20%
Support slightly 18%
Neither support nor oppose 30%
Oppose slightly 8%
Oppose strongly 24%
Didn’t know 0%
Total support 38%
Total oppose 32%
Proportion of the 500 respondents is shown
About 40% supported the principle of introduction of road pricing and about 30% opposed it.
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The survey also asked about attitudes depending on how the revenues raised might be used. When
asked for their views if it were to be invested in extra road capacity or road improvements, the
findings were different:-
“IF REVENUES RAISED WERE USED TO INVEST IN EXTRA ROAD CAPACITY OR ROAD IMPROVEMENTS
TO WHAT EXTENT WOULD YOU SUPPORT IN PRINCIPLE THE INTRODUCTION OF ROAD PRICING ON
MOTORWAYS AND MAJOR ROUTES IN THE UK?”
Opinion Proportion
Support strongly 32%
Support slightly 30%
Neither support nor oppose 17%
Oppose slightly 7%
Oppose strongly 12%
Didn’t know 0%
Total support 63%
Total oppose 20%
Proportion of the 500 respondents is shown: total not 100% because of rounding
This time 60% were in favour of the principle and 20% were against it. This was a very similar result
to that when directors were asked for their views if the revenues were to be spent on transport
improvements generally:-
“IF REVENUES RAISED WERE USED TO INVEST IN TRANSPORT IMPROVEMENTS GENERALLY TO WHAT
EXTENT WOULD YOU SUPPORT IN PRINCIPLE THE INTRODUCTION OF ROAD PRICING ON
MOTORWAYS AND MAJOR ROUTES IN THE UK?”
Opinion Proportion
Support strongly 39%
Support slightly 23%
Neither support nor oppose 18%
Oppose slightly 10%
Oppose strongly 8%
Didn’t know 0%
Total support 63%
Total oppose 19%
Proportion of the 500 respondents is shown: total not 100% because of rounding
Again, about 60% were in favour and 20% against. 7

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6 Transport and the environment
Directors were asked about some aspects of transport policy and practice within their own
organisation. Reported below are the responses to a question as to what was in place.
POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN PLACE IN DIRECTORS’ OWN ORGANISATION
Policy or practice Yes No Don’t know
Encouraging use of public transport for 50% 50% 0%
business purposes
Environmental impacts (e.g. carbon dioxide emissions 43% 53% 4%
from vehicles, or carbon offsetting)
Encouraging car sharing for employees 42% 58% 0%
Fuel use for transport 40% 59% 1%
Teleconferencing 36% 63% 1%
Season ticket loans for employees to get to work 14% 84% 1%
Proportion of the 500 respondents is shown: row total may not be 100% because of rounding
Half of the respondents reported that their organisation had a policy on encouraging use of public
transport for business purposes. About 40% reported that they had a policy on environmental
impacts such as looking at carbon emissions. Roughly the same proportion said that they had a
policy encouraging car sharing by employees or a policy on fuel use for transport. Thirty six per cent
stated that they had a policy on teleconferencing and 14% one of season ticket loans for employees
to travel to work.
Participants were also asked about board level interest in a couple of areas. These were resource
efficiency in relation to fuel or energy, and environmental impacts of transport. The full findings using
a scale of 1 (never) to 5 (always) being discussed at board meetings were as shown below.
“DOES THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF WHICH YOU ARE A MEMBER CONSIDER TRANSPORT ISSUES IN
TERMS OF?”
Rating Resource efficiency, e.g. fuel Environmental effects, e.g. distance travelled,
use or energy use minimising pollution or greenhouse gas emissions
5 - always 12% 4%
4 23% 12%
3 28% 36%
2 12% 20%
1 - never 25% 28%
Didn't know 1% 0%
8 Proportion of the 500 respondents is shown: column total may not be 100% because of
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Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to all the IoD members who took part in the telephone survey. Of those, 75% (375
directors) said that they would be prepared to be contacted in future by the IoD to discuss transport
issues more widely.
Thanks are also due to the Energy Saving Trust for the suggestion of including environmental issues
in the survey.
Geraint Day, Head of Health, Environment and Transport Policy
IoD Policy Unit
September 2006
1 See www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_about/documents/page/dft_about_612142.hcsp.
2 At www.iod.com/transport under "Publications" then scroll to "Consultation Responses".
3 As reported in Transport matters: making the transport system work for British business, IoD Policy Paper,
James Walsh, 2004. This may be found at www.iod.com/transport under "Publications".
4 See www.iod.com/transport.
5 For example in the IoD response to the Barker Review of Land Use Planning in May 2006 (at
www.iod.com/transport under "Publications" then "Consultation Responses").
6 www.est.org.uk.
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