Councils praised for ‘keeping traffic moving’

In a speech to a Local Government Association (LGA) conference on integrated transport, the Minister congratulated the successful local authorities for developing plans to beat traffic jams and keep roads flowing.

Assessors found that 71 per cent of the Local Transport Plans (LTPs) for English local authorities outside London show a 'Good' or 'Excellent' understanding of Network Management Duty.
 
Rosie Winterton said:
"I would like to congratulate all those authorities who have done well. Their performance should inspire others to improve.

"We recognise the importance of local action and innovation and the overall good results of this study bear this out. “

 The Traffic Management Act (TMA) 2004 incorporates a Network Management Duty which imposes a responsibility on local traffic authorities to deliver efficient movement of traffic on their road network.

Initial key LTP assessment results were published in December last year. DfT has today published detailed reports into the LTPs of traffic authorities across England, not including London.

The best authorities had many strengths including strong incident, contingency and emergency planning.

Rosie Winterton also told the LGA conference in London that building an integrated, sustainable, efficient and secure transport system that can support a growing and globally competitive British economy and tackles social exclusion was vital.

She said central Government could not achieve those goals alone, instead local authorities need to concentrate on what is most effective in delivering solutions best tailored for local needs.

The minister added that, The draft Local Transport Bill will help tackle congestion and give local authorities far greater flexibility to develop the right transport solutions for their own areas.