Skip to main content

ACE makes recommendations to government on UK road funding

The UK Government must introduce dynamic road user charging in the UK over the long-term; with initial steps to be taken now and a suggested start date of 2030, according to a new report from ACE. Called ‘Funding roads for the future: Creating a more productive and sustainable road network in England’ it presented a series of recommendations on how to improve road network funding and how revenue from associated taxes can be sustained for future needs.
January 25, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
The UK Government must introduce dynamic road user charging in the UK over the long-term; with initial steps to be taken now and a suggested start date of 2030, according to a new report from ACE. Called ‘Funding roads for the future: Creating a more productive and sustainable road network in England’ it presented a series of recommendations on how to improve road network funding and how revenue from associated taxes can be sustained for future needs.


This inquiry stated that the growing uptake of zero-emission vehicles will create problems for funding roads as the revenue from Vehicle Excise Duty and Fuel Duty will continue to decline as a percentage of the UK’s GDP in the future. It also categorised funding for local roads as a struggling area due to the tight budgets of local authorities who often miss out on the investment required.

In addition, it highlighted that the government needs to look at new options to tackle congestion and to ensure that the road network is fit-for-purpose for the future with budgetary constraints.

Other proposals include reforming the Vehicle Excise Duty and Heavy Goods Vehicle Road User Levy to ensure these taxes raise sufficient revenue for the National Roads Fund from 2020-21. It specified that the government needs to increase the overall funding for local roads with a suggested Local Roads Fund, ringfenced through a proportion of revenue from Fuel Duty, as a medium-term solution. Additionally, A National Road Strategy outlining the overall approach of all funding programs for roads, including how investments could unlock productivity and achieve economic benefits. It also proposed replacing the Community Infrastructure levy (CIL) with a better designed Local Infrastructure Tariff, in line with CIL Review Group's recommendations.

More recommendations are available in a full copy of the report %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external here false https://www.acenet.co.uk/Documents/Files/ACE%20Funding%20Roads%20for%20the%20Future.pdf false false%>.

Related Content

  • K Group to increase Finland’s electric car charge points by 50%
    June 22, 2018
    K Group intends to boost Finland’s electric car charging infrastructure by 50% by 2019. The solar power producer will install 400 charge points for electric cars and plug-in hybrids at 70 outlets of convenience chain K-Store across the country. The project will support the government's target to increase the number of electric cars in Finland to 250,000 by 2030 and to build 2,000 public charge points by 2020. Around 300 of the charge points will feature 22kW capacity while the remaining 100 will char
  • Panasonic to launch autonomous cart ride-share in 2021
    November 6, 2019
    Panasonic is to launch a ride-sharing service of autonomous electric carts in Japan in 2021 for small towns and other ‘confined’ areas. A report by The Mainichi says the company is now using four carts to transport more than 14,000 employees around its headquarters in Osaka Prefecture ahead of the commercial launch. The carts operate at 20 km/h per hour on a 2.4km loop around the premises, which is around 468,000 m2 in size. An spokesperson is quoted as saying during a press conference: "We are not tryin
  • Asecap: Road safety is a shared responsibility
    March 23, 2018
    Road safety is a shared responsibility of roads, vehicles and users, according to a key message delivered at Asecap’s Annual Safety Conference, in Brussels. The event provided an opportunity for road stakeholders to discuss the main safety priorities of the new mobility package to be presented by the European Commission (EC) next May. Additionally, the conference found that modern toll roads are the safest roads in Europe. The European Parliament and the EC blessed the memorandum of understanding
  • Webinar: Automation at ITS European Congress
    June 16, 2014
    A webinar organised by Ertico-ITS Europe at 1600 on 20 June will provide an overview of the main topics on Automation discussed during the ITS European Congress, highlighting the main outcomes of different initiatives organised during the Congress. The speakers, Dr Maxime Flament of Ertico-ITS Europe and Dr Lytrivis Panagiotis of ICCS, will share their views and provide feedback on events at the Congress. They will also debate the current progress in different areas relating to successful and sustainable