Byers: We will back motorists

The Government plans to change its much-criticised 10-year transport blueprint to make it more "pro-motorist".

Stephen Byers, the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, will publish an updated version in July. He believes the original proposals unveiled by John Prescott, his predecessor, almost two years ago were too anti-car.

New measures will include more small-scale local road schemes to reduce congestion, such as the introduction of one-way systems and other traffic management measures; faster responses to accidents to cut delays; and the provision of more tram lines in cities. The key targets set out by Mr Prescott will remain, including a 50 per cent increase in rail use by 2010, a 10 per cent rise in bus use and an overall reduction in road congestion.

Mr Byers said yesterday: "The plan was always a living document. It was not set in concrete. There are new pressure points, new priorities."

He will cite the growth in the economy since the original plan was drawn up, which has increased the amount of traffic because more people are in work.

Mr Byers will argue that public transport must be improved first before the Government tries to persuade motorists to leave their cars at home.

But the changes will fail to pacify the Commons Transport Select Committee, which issued a scathing report on the 10-year plan yesterday, describing it as "incoherent" and "incomprehensible". The MPs accused the Government of failing to tackle congestion because it feared a "backlash" by motorists.

Gwyneth Dunwoody, the committee's Labour chairwoman, said: "The cost of motoring is going to go down and the cost of public transport is going to go up.

"That is not in the interests of the Government or anyone else, certainly not the environmentalists."

But Mr Byers replied: "The reality is that cars will remain the mode of travel for most journeys for the foreseeable future. I do not believe we should punish the car owner so that they are forced to use public transport."