:00:11. > :00:17.A transport special. Are we falling out of love with the car? Are the
:00:17. > :00:22.love our cars. But something is changing. Traffic growth due to car
:00:22. > :00:29.use is simply not going ahead at the rate be used to. Tony Blackburn
:00:29. > :00:35.meets the people who keep the Dartford crossing on the move.
:00:36. > :00:43.is having a panic attack. He cannot drive on. One of our offices --
:00:43. > :00:48.officers were taken on his way. parking charges in Kent and Sussex
:00:48. > :00:56.just a stealth tax? It is a form of incoming generation. Without it, we
:00:57. > :01:05.would have to put another 4% on the rate. We have untold stories closer
:01:05. > :01:15.to home. From all round Kent and Sussex, this is inside out. --
:01:15. > :01:24.
:01:24. > :01:31.Tonight, we are in growing private. We are back here later, but first,
:01:31. > :01:41.we go on a trip with Richard Westcott. He has had exclusive
:01:41. > :01:42.
:01:42. > :01:46.access to a major report published Building roads is controversial.
:01:46. > :01:49.Not building them can be controversial too. So how do
:01:49. > :01:54.planners get it right? How do they decide where to spend our taxes -
:01:54. > :02:00.on road or rail? The only way to ever be sure is to
:02:00. > :02:03.beam ourselves into the future. And we all know how easy that is.
:02:03. > :02:13.When these fans were watching their favourite series back in the '60s
:02:13. > :02:17.
:02:17. > :02:22.we thought we knew how we would be travelling by 2012. There was talk
:02:22. > :02:26.of having a little personal car that flew.
:02:26. > :02:29.But sci-fi got it wrong, most of us get around now the same way we did
:02:29. > :02:32.50 years ago - having your own jet pack remains a distant dream. And
:02:32. > :02:36.ever since I can remember there has been an assumption the traffic is
:02:36. > :02:41.just going to get worse and worse. After all, we all love our cars,
:02:41. > :02:49.don't we? Well, maybe not. In transport circles there is a rumour
:02:49. > :02:58.going round that we are falling out of love with four wheels. They have
:02:58. > :03:01.even given it a name - Peak Car. So what is Peak Car? Well, just look
:03:01. > :03:04.at UK traffic growth in the '60s and '70s when we couldn't get
:03:04. > :03:14.enough cars, but by the '90s the trend was already slowing, and by
:03:14. > :03:19.
:03:19. > :03:23.about 2002 average mileage per Is the love affair with the car
:03:23. > :03:28.cooling down well? What we are seeing is that in advance companies,
:03:28. > :03:38.even in America, traffic growth due to Carr used simply is not going
:03:38. > :03:40.
:03:40. > :03:43.ahead at the same rates it used to. Well, now Inside Out has been given
:03:43. > :03:46.the first piece of in-depth research into Peak Car in the UK
:03:46. > :03:49.and this report is full of surprises. It shows that while some
:03:49. > :03:53.of us are driving more than ever, others are dramatically changing
:03:53. > :03:56.the way we travel. Take young men for example. Now when I was young,
:03:56. > :03:59.I couldn't wait to get my hands on my dad's mark 4 Cortina with
:03:59. > :04:09.reversing lights. Passing your test was seen as a rite of passage, but
:04:09. > :04:11.
:04:11. > :04:14.Market trader Lee Vernon is 19, but he won't be adding to the traffic
:04:14. > :04:24.around Mansfield Nottinghamshire any time soon. He is selling up
:04:24. > :04:25.
:04:25. > :04:31.because he has just been quoted �2,800 to insure his three-wheeler.
:04:31. > :04:41.Hope really love it. It is a great looking Kok, but the insurance is
:04:41. > :04:45.
:04:45. > :04:48.The research shows Lee is not alone. Young men are driving 2,000 miles a
:04:48. > :04:52.year less than they were in 1995. Women though, young and old, are
:04:52. > :04:57.actually driving more than they used to. So what is going on?
:04:57. > :05:03.think what has changed, attitude Wise, people just gave up and
:05:03. > :05:09.people used Facebook and their phones, and using public transport.
:05:09. > :05:12.I don't think anyone cares about cars any more. One of the big
:05:13. > :05:17.things about this report is that young men aren't driving as much.
:05:17. > :05:22.Back to be due to a rise in higher education, a rise in insurance. But
:05:22. > :05:31.the important point is that if this trend carries on, we will see a lot
:05:31. > :05:34.less car travel, and a lot less car ownership as well. So what else has
:05:34. > :05:37.the report found? Well, this is the rainy 7.16am from Warwick Parkway
:05:37. > :05:46.to Marylebone. Over the last 2 years the numbers using this line
:05:46. > :05:49.have gone up by a staggering 40%. And according to the report that is
:05:49. > :05:52.in line with a national trend. Since the mid-'90s the distance the
:05:52. > :06:01.average person travels by rail has soared by more than 60%, the last
:06:01. > :06:11.time the trains were this busy was during the war. A key growth is in
:06:11. > :06:17.two areas. Work is one, and leisure travel is the other. In that way,
:06:17. > :06:21.train travel has become cheaper. Congestion is increasing on the
:06:21. > :06:24.road, and the equation is going in favour of rail.
:06:24. > :06:28.Sitting with a laptop on train. And of course all those gadgets mean
:06:28. > :06:35.you can now work or play on the move. You can even book your next
:06:35. > :06:38.train ticket. While rail travel is up, especially
:06:38. > :06:41.for business users, company car mileage is down - by 40% between
:06:41. > :06:45.1995 and 2007, so that is before any recession. Scrapping tax breaks
:06:45. > :06:48.made the difference and it has had a big impact on traffic in London.
:06:48. > :06:51.Despite more people moving to the capital, there are fewer cars. But
:06:51. > :06:55.the report found in the countryside people seem to be driving as much
:06:55. > :07:05.if not more than ever. Of course in big cities you have a lot more
:07:05. > :07:20.
:07:20. > :07:24.options for getting around. We have had a bit of a boom recently. The
:07:24. > :07:27.UK is on course to produce more cars than at any time since 1972.
:07:27. > :07:30.But that is not because we are all buying ourselves a new motor. 80%
:07:30. > :07:34.are being exported - these Minis are heading to Asia and South
:07:34. > :07:38.America. It is not just the car industry there will be looking at
:07:38. > :07:44.this research. The Department of Transport is planning a major road
:07:44. > :07:52.building programme based on traffic going up by 44 % over the next few
:07:52. > :07:56.years. But what if they get it wrong? Since 1989, successive
:07:56. > :08:03.governments have overestimated traffic growth. The red line is
:08:03. > :08:10.what is actually happening. There is always a risk that transport
:08:10. > :08:15.companies are going to get it wrong. It ensures that the data is
:08:15. > :08:23.rigorously analysed. There's a lot of information for us to go and
:08:23. > :08:26.have a look at. By not convinced we have reached a peak car yet.
:08:26. > :08:29.government points out the UK population is predicted to grow by
:08:29. > :08:33.another 10 million in the next 25 years. And the RAC Foundation who
:08:33. > :08:39.helped fund the report says that means we are still going to need
:08:39. > :08:44.more roads. This is not the end of the car. The use of cars have been
:08:44. > :08:53.declining, but people will need to use cars unless they have a role
:08:53. > :08:56.and buses available. Many people will not have those. Almost half a
:08:56. > :09:01.century ago when Star Trek started this is what we thought travel in
:09:01. > :09:07.the 23rd century might look like - and it is pure '60s. It just shows
:09:07. > :09:10.it will look like an enlarged version of the present. More car
:09:10. > :09:20.traffic has been the transport story of the past 50 years, it may
:09:20. > :09:35.
:09:35. > :09:39.Waters is but an do it again? -- Coming up: Rising fees and nor
:09:39. > :09:44.restrictions. But our parking charges really improving town-
:09:44. > :09:54.centre us? How would you describe this parking strategy? A complete
:09:54. > :10:00.
:10:00. > :10:10.Eight major headache for those travelling between Kent and Essex,
:10:10. > :10:17.
:10:17. > :10:23.the dot the crossing. What is going This is the tunnel that I use at
:10:23. > :10:28.least twice a week coming from Kent. Normally, it is released snarled up.
:10:28. > :10:35.Going south, everyone is on the bridge. Nearly every day, you will
:10:35. > :10:39.hear of jams going up the M25 into Essex. This is the bridge. We are
:10:39. > :10:43.not even there, but the traffic is crazy. This is five minutes past
:10:43. > :10:49.nine in the morning. This is not too bad. We are at least moving.
:10:49. > :10:59.This puts at least another 15 minutes on what should be a pretty
:10:59. > :11:00.
:11:00. > :11:03.easy journey. 160,000 vehicles pass through the tolls every day. Doc it
:11:03. > :11:08.is the busiest crossing in the south-east, and with so much
:11:08. > :11:12.traffic, its estate want instant for everything to grind to a halt.
:11:12. > :11:18.Keeping traffic moving force to the Highways Agency, but also do with
:11:18. > :11:23.crisis. This man is having a panic attack. He cannot drive on. One of
:11:23. > :11:31.the officers will go with him, drive him on, and taken to a place
:11:31. > :11:37.of safety. Hold traffic, a halt traffic. A lorry has arrived that
:11:37. > :11:41.is too tall to get through the tunnel. The Highways Agency has to
:11:41. > :11:46.reverse the lorry, closing the tolls. Meanwhile, the traffic
:11:46. > :11:56.stacks up. The lorry is now going through the larger right hand
:11:56. > :12:00.tunnel. You're just flying the traffic down. That is all. We are
:12:00. > :12:08.straddling the middle lane. Nothing is getting past us. There is always
:12:08. > :12:14.a demand to get one side to the other. Back in the 11th century,
:12:14. > :12:20.nuns from Dartford transported pilgrims. The first attempt at a
:12:21. > :12:25.tunnel was backing 7097, opposite Tilbury Fort. It was to be a way of
:12:25. > :12:30.getting the Kent garrison over quickly it Essex came under attack.
:12:30. > :12:34.Play abandoned the tunnel because it filled with water. The ferries
:12:34. > :12:44.continued carrying passengers, but in the early 20th century, a
:12:44. > :12:49.pressure again grew to build a It is recording on this particular
:12:49. > :12:55.day the breakthrough between the tunnels, one from Essex and one
:12:55. > :12:59.from Kent. Here rather miners inside, breaking through. They work
:12:59. > :13:09.in compressed air. That men sometimes get the bends, like
:13:09. > :13:15.divers. Home renders conditions. Just working in this could not have
:13:15. > :13:19.been very nice -- horrendous. World war to break out. As they finished
:13:19. > :13:25.the pilot tunnel, there was no money from the Government to finish
:13:25. > :13:30.and it was abandoned. They are digging the biggest road tunnel...
:13:30. > :13:34.After the war, work continued with them working at a rate of six feet
:13:34. > :13:43.per day, taking 13 years to get to the other side. The crossing became
:13:43. > :13:53.the main route and demand was so great that a second tunnel was
:13:53. > :13:59.
:13:59. > :14:06.commissioned. Before long, a record number of cars were using the
:14:06. > :14:11.tunnel. This person was an engineer at the time. We were testing
:14:11. > :14:16.concrete, working out damage to the structure. As somebody who goes
:14:16. > :14:20.through the tunnel, whenever I go through, I think that on top of it
:14:20. > :14:26.there is water. How do you keep it from coming through? They are
:14:26. > :14:32.watertight! I can assure you. The old tunnel with cast-iron lining is
:14:32. > :14:36.very sound. 100,000 vehicles for the first time. I remember the
:14:36. > :14:44.general manager saying we achieved 100,000 vehicles, in the early
:14:44. > :14:51.1990s probably. The bridge will carry four lanes of traffic,
:14:51. > :14:56.linking Essex and Kent in a sweep of concrete and steel. As soon as
:14:56. > :15:00.they built the second tunnel, they realised it was not enough and they
:15:00. > :15:06.built the Queen Elizabeth the second bridge, taking the traffic
:15:06. > :15:12.from Purfleet to Dartford. It cost �120 million, which we finish
:15:12. > :15:16.paying back in 2003. Guess what, the toll payments are still there
:15:16. > :15:21.and we are being asked to pay more and it is still busy. Many people
:15:21. > :15:29.say that this was paid for a long time ago and that it was going to
:15:29. > :15:35.be free. Why is it not? It was paid for in 2003 and I am sure people
:15:35. > :15:42.want it free of charge. It is now more of a congestion charge on
:15:42. > :15:48.demand. It is going to be free- flowing traffic, you are getting
:15:48. > :15:53.rid of the booth us. There will still be a charge, but it will be a
:15:53. > :15:57.single shot, people will not be stopping, it will be like the
:15:57. > :16:01.London congestion charge. I are there plans to make it easier?
:16:01. > :16:09.There is a plan for another crossing elsewhere around this area.
:16:09. > :16:15.What will that be? It is in the early stage of conception. We know
:16:15. > :16:24.that we -- the current crossing cannot cope. Charging will pay for
:16:24. > :16:34.the 4th crossing. Meanwhile, all we can do is grin and bear it. Look,
:16:34. > :16:35.
:16:35. > :16:39.it is going! Tony Blackburn reporting. There is
:16:39. > :16:45.nothing more likely to create a transport row than the subject of
:16:45. > :16:54.parking. Have we got it wrong when it comes to an hour anger over
:16:54. > :17:00.charges and fines? Covert operations and claims of
:17:00. > :17:05.espionage and exotic locations of sorts and no shortage of cars. I am
:17:05. > :17:15.talking about parking in Kent and Sussex. You would be forgiven for
:17:15. > :17:16.
:17:16. > :17:20.thinking it sounds like a plot of a James Bond film. On local councils
:17:20. > :17:30.playing the part of the evil villain, plotting to exploit the
:17:30. > :17:31.
:17:31. > :17:35.innocent motorist through parking fees and finds? -- fines. Or, our
:17:36. > :17:45.local councils something else? Are they the James Bonds of the parking
:17:45. > :17:50.world? Their heroes, intent on improving traffic flow and road-
:17:50. > :17:54.safety -- for heroes? We will take a tour through Kent and Sussex to
:17:54. > :18:04.try and find out the answer. And the choice of transport? A Vauxhall
:18:04. > :18:07.van. The first stop is in Folkestone, a seaside town that
:18:07. > :18:11.relies on tourists and local trade. When the council said it was
:18:11. > :18:17.introducing parking restrictions in eight new roads, shopkeepers were
:18:17. > :18:24.worried about a drop in business. We have had a fantastic summer with
:18:24. > :18:28.a lot of things going on in town. There is a vibrancy around the town.
:18:28. > :18:31.From 17th September, the Consumers' disappear from a high streets.
:18:32. > :18:37.you think Martin might be exaggerating, Perhaps you should
:18:37. > :18:41.talk to the town centre manager. He said that the council policy of
:18:41. > :18:48.reducing fees in car-parks and introducing fees on the streets has
:18:48. > :18:53.had a catastrophic effect on trade. In one case, there was a cafe that
:18:53. > :19:01.had their best year up to September since the opening 13 years ago. On
:19:01. > :19:06.Saturday, the drop in trade was 50%. And that is a huge effect. This
:19:06. > :19:12.car-parking strategy has had an effect on the town. How would you
:19:12. > :19:15.describe it? It is a shambolic mess. That chances are it will not be the
:19:15. > :19:20.first time we have heard of a hostile reaction. It seems
:19:20. > :19:25.everywhere you go there are new restrictions. Every local-authority
:19:25. > :19:30.in the region has expanded parking restrictions in the past three
:19:30. > :19:36.years and in some cases by dozens of roads. Is this evil genius at
:19:36. > :19:42.work, or are councils trying to help? It is time to hit the road
:19:42. > :19:46.again, this time to meet an expert in parking policy who has advised
:19:46. > :19:52.councils all over the country. Are councils misunderstood where
:19:52. > :19:56.parking is concerned? I think they are. No local-authority charges
:19:56. > :20:00.motorists for an income stream. They have a range of groups
:20:00. > :20:05.dissatisfied and they have to meet the needs of many people coming to
:20:05. > :20:10.towns. On a whole, they do that through parking control and charges
:20:10. > :20:15.are a means of managing that. There are few authorities I work with
:20:15. > :20:20.where the income stream is the driver. He says that there are many
:20:20. > :20:25.reasons parking restrictions are introduced, from encouraging people
:20:26. > :20:30.to using public transport, to making the roads safer. The a other
:20:30. > :20:35.aspect is town centre regeneration. You do not want a gridlocked town,
:20:35. > :20:39.you want it easy to get in and out. Managing car parking is an
:20:39. > :20:49.important element of the desire to make the place more attractive for
:20:49. > :21:00.
:21:00. > :21:04.people to come and work and visit. Rather than councils being evil
:21:04. > :21:09.geniuses you might fear, they could be considered a force for good and
:21:09. > :21:14.that is what many parents outside Southborough primary school will
:21:14. > :21:19.tell you. The local authority is using CCTV to prevent motorists
:21:19. > :21:26.dropping children of in restricted areas. Parents were unanimous. This
:21:26. > :21:31.was a positive parking prevention strategy. It has prevented people
:21:31. > :21:35.parking on the zig-zag lines. People drop their children off and
:21:35. > :21:41.think it is OK to do that and it is not because you have children
:21:41. > :21:46.crossing on this road. You can see it when children shoot out between
:21:46. > :21:54.the cars. This way, it gives you a better idea of where the children
:21:54. > :21:59.are. You can identify who is doing it. But it is not all good news.
:21:59. > :22:04.The use of CCTV cars has led to claims of subterfuge being used to
:22:04. > :22:08.exploit motorists financially. And whether you agree with that, it
:22:08. > :22:14.brings us back to the subject of money. When it comes to the cost of
:22:14. > :22:20.parking, councils can look like the villains of the peace. Inflation is
:22:20. > :22:27.running at around 2.5%, but our research found 20% rises across the
:22:27. > :22:34.South East were not uncommon. Some were more than that. In Thanet,
:22:34. > :22:39.some car-parks or a two hour state rise from 80p up to one out 61 year
:22:39. > :22:45.later -- to our stay. And on the seafront in Brighton during the
:22:45. > :22:51.summer months, the cost of parking here on this drive has risen from
:22:51. > :22:57.�2.20 for two hours up to �6. That is an increase of almost 300%. What
:22:57. > :23:02.do you think about that increase? It is ridiculous. It does not
:23:02. > :23:09.encourage people to come to Brighton. Go elsewhere. Parking
:23:09. > :23:15.charges are important for people. If you are increasing it, it might
:23:15. > :23:19.p -- put people off. It was time to hear from the council and their
:23:19. > :23:24.Green Party leader Jason Kitcat. Initially, he found it hard to
:23:25. > :23:30.believe the figures. One of your tariffs has gone up by almost 300%.
:23:30. > :23:35.How do you justify it? I do not believe that was the increase and I
:23:36. > :23:38.would ask you to check your facts. That is what we did. We stopped the
:23:38. > :23:44.interview and showed him the figures provided by his local
:23:44. > :23:48.authority and then we started the interview again. On average the
:23:48. > :23:54.increases were 5% but I accept that did go up. We had to rationalise
:23:54. > :23:59.the charges. There were 70 tariffs when we came in to control and that
:23:59. > :24:05.meant some went up, but some went down. Through hundred per cent is
:24:05. > :24:09.high. We are not seeking to make such big changes in years to come
:24:09. > :24:15.but somebody had to bite the bullet and make the long overdue changes
:24:15. > :24:19.to rationalise and simplified. We have clear tariffs across the city.
:24:19. > :24:24.That is on-street parking. Off- street is cheaper and we try to
:24:24. > :24:30.prioritise people using the multi- storey is an deal with congestion.
:24:30. > :24:35.He said since some taps had gone up, more people had started to use
:24:35. > :24:41.buses -- some tariffs. He said it is about finding a happy and
:24:41. > :24:48.healthy balance. We cannot carry on the way we have been. It is not
:24:48. > :24:51.sustainable in any sense. Nobody has a right to park where they like
:24:51. > :24:56.and we need to balance the requirements of those people who
:24:56. > :25:00.own cars and those who do not. In our city we have half the national
:25:00. > :25:10.average of car ownership and many people choose not to have cars. We
:25:10. > :25:14.
:25:14. > :25:18.need to balance those needs. Before you buy into the James Bond Act, we
:25:18. > :25:24.are left with the question of what happens to money raised through the
:25:24. > :25:29.parking? Is it being spent on transport related projects? Our
:25:29. > :25:34.research suggests not. We asked local authorities if they ring-
:25:34. > :25:39.fenced income from parking. Only four councils, Brighton and Hove,
:25:39. > :25:43.Thanet, Tunbridge Wells and Gravesham said yes. Every other
:25:43. > :25:48.local authority in Kent and East Sussex admitted surpluses from off-
:25:49. > :25:54.street parking could be spent on whatever they chose. So what you
:25:54. > :25:57.spend in a car-park could be spent on maintaining your local park, or
:25:58. > :26:03.waste collection. If that is what your council tax is meant to pay
:26:03. > :26:10.for, has parking become another form of taxation? What you might
:26:10. > :26:13.call a stealth tax? They are already paying for fuel duty and
:26:13. > :26:18.they see themselves as targets and if parking charges go up and the
:26:18. > :26:24.money is not being invested in road and transport, I think they rightly
:26:24. > :26:28.consider them to be targets for a stealth tax. We put that thought to
:26:28. > :26:32.Shepway Council, the local authority responsible for the
:26:32. > :26:37.parking zone in Folkestone that local shopkeepers claim has damaged
:26:37. > :26:43.trade. It is not a stealth tax. It is income generation and without it
:26:43. > :26:47.we would have to put 4% on the rates. There is a cost to running a
:26:47. > :26:54.council and that is in providing street cleaning, litters weeping,
:26:54. > :27:00.maintenance, car parking, litter bin collection -- litter sweeping.
:27:00. > :27:05.They have to be paid for. A lot of those services are used by people
:27:05. > :27:10.who come into the district and do not contribute in the rates. Why is
:27:10. > :27:19.it wrong to ask them for a contribution? He said the parking
:27:19. > :27:24.policy was intended to encourage a greater turnover of town-centre
:27:24. > :27:29.traffic. He said the council had to meet everybody's needs, not just
:27:29. > :27:36.Traders. Four areas have to be considered, the residents, the
:27:36. > :27:41.retailers, those with hotels and also visitors. This strategy was
:27:41. > :27:46.designed to help all of them. have we learned on our journey?
:27:46. > :27:51.Parking policies can reduce congestion and improve safety and
:27:51. > :27:54.keep your council tax down. But those policies can impact on
:27:54. > :28:00.tourism and trade and leave drivers feeling exploited as income from
:28:00. > :28:06.parking is used to fund on related services. Our local authorities
:28:06. > :28:16.evil geniuses or the heroes of the hourly tariff? Maybe they are a
:28:16. > :28:18.
:28:18. > :28:25.little bit of both. Where did you park? The car park at
:28:25. > :28:30.the back. If you want more information about