Letter: The cost of road congestion

Sir: Many of the statistics provided by Transport 2000 are misleading or wrong. It is stated that road users pay pounds 13.8bn in taxation (fuel tax and vehicle excise duty); actually, the latest figures for these two taxes are pounds 16.4bn and that is without the pounds 4.6bn in VAT that motorists pay on vehicle purchase and fuel, bringing the total to pounds 21bn.

It is also alleged that company car drivers receive a pounds 1.5bn subsidy. This again is wrong, as the Treasury receives many millions of pounds a year from the very significant taxation on company cars.

Looking at the Department of Transport's planned expenditure for the next three years, more money will be spent on British Rail and London Underground than on our motorways and trunk roads. Although the amount of money spent on transport is inadequate, it is not the case that we over-fund our roads at the expense of public transport.

Yours faithfully,

ANDREW PHAROAH

Campaign Co-ordinator

British Road Federation

London, SE1