Transport report will plug cycling

Carlton Reid Dec 1 2006, 6:45am

Former British Airways boss Sir Rod Eddington was charged by the Government with examining the future for transport in the UK. His report is out later today and it wil include a pitch for road pricing. But it will also stress that "smaller schemes" are highly-cost effective.

Charging motorists for using the roads they damage and clog up could raise £28bn a year, believes Eddington. And this cash could be ploughed into public transport.

But as well as recommending "big schemes" such as new, high-speed rail-links, Eddington's report is expected to extol the benefits of "small schemes" such as the creation and extension of cycle-paths, and other urban engineering projects that favour bicycles over cars.