Ruth Kelly today approved Manchester's congestion charging scheme - but as I reported last month, final approval of the scheme does still hang in the balance.
If fewer than seven of the ten AGMA authorities back the scheme, then the whole thing will need to go to a Greater Manchester-wide referendum. Three authorities - Stockport, Trafford and Bury - have already said they won't support it. And Bolton's councillors have promised their voters a separate referendum, once all the facts are available. If Bolton votes "no", that would trigger the full-on referendum.
And guess where Ruth Kelly's seat is? Bolton West. That's why she put out this press release today, urging local people to support the scheme....
In Washington, we talked transport with Brookings today. The US has clearly got a few lessons to learn from the UK on transport policy - that's one of the things we'll be saying in our paper with Brookings, to be released later this week.
A forthcoming report from Robert Puentes will say that US transport infrastructure is suffering from physical neglect and congestion - roads and transit systems are aging and in dire need of repair, tens of thousands of bridges are structurally deficient, and traffic delays are pervasive.
The spike in gas prices is today's top story, but could provide an opportunity for much-needed reform. Between March 2007 and March 2008, the rise in gas prices triggered a significant drop in car use - with Americans travelling 11 billion fewer vehicle miles. This is piling pressure on the already-stretched public transit system, and making the need for new investment all the more urgent. As a result, there is a real appetite among the policy community here to learn from international best practice.
So what can we teach the US on transport? London's congestion charge - and maybe Manchester's - could offer useful lessons for US cities. So could the 2006 Eddington Study - which set out a clear case and evidence base for smarter transport investment, based on rigorous appraisal and evaluation. Here, federal funding of transport projects is driven by "pork-barrel" politics, rather than objective analysis. Our paper with Brookings later this week will call for smarter, evidence-based federal transport investment in key corridors and gateways of national travel and international trade.
This is just one example of how the US could learn useful lessons from the UK. More examples like this coming up...
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