The government needs to be honest about the level of performance that it expects from the UK's transport infrastructure - and supply sufficient funding to provide it.

Efficient transport is a key ingredient in the UK's quality of life. The Freight Transport Association says that investment in the road network needs to be up to the standard required to support the fourth largest economy in the world. Presently it is not.

FTA president John Allan, chief executive of Exel plc, made these remarks when opening FTA's Freight Summit 2004 at the London Hilton, Park Lane today (Thursday 19 February).

Allan said: "Can it really be sensible for the UK to endure daily congestion on its key Trade Routes? Can the UK, with an expanding economy and society, not spare funding for the construction of three or four metres alongside our busiest roads for an extra traffic lane? Roads congestion is the curse of British industry wasting billions of hours and billions of pounds every year. Whatever else we do to deal with this, and certainly before the option of road user charging, we must prioritise the widening of all our key Trade Routes. Despite the claims of the anti-roads lobby, we have nowhere near run out of space. But we are running out of time."

Allan acknowledged the claims of other calls on the nation's wealth and Government spending. However, he emphasised the fundamental role played by transport in underpinning society and the economy and called for a new approach to transport investment. He said: "Why is investment in the nation's road and rail assets, which have a life time of 30 years, having to compete with short term funding? Just as a homeowner would not attempt to fund a house extension on the housekeeping money, but would seek a loan to do it, so the Government should find new ways of financing its investments in infrastructure which avoid this reliance on short term cash trying to fund assets with 30-year life times.

"Our vision of the future is derived from the necessity and desirability, not of transport, but of a thriving and growing economy. Transport is the key and indispensable facilitator of that growth and is acknowledged as such by the government.

"We must translate that vision into reality and meet and beat the challenge of the cost. What is no longer acceptable is "There is the vision, this is what we can afford" with the unspoken intention of blaming predecessors when the target has been missed."

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