EEDA - Routes to growth - regional transport campaign

Routes to growth - regional transport campaign

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Routes to growth - regional transport campaign

The East of England is a growing region - and the third largest contributor to the UK economy. Investment in transport infrastructure is essential for the region's economy to flourish and compete in the global marketplace.

Our region:

contributes 9.7 per cent of total value of UK economy. In 2006 the region contributed just under £110 billion to the UK economy
receives the lowest level of central government investment per head of any UK region
was awarded only ten per cent of the total allocation of the last round of indicative regional transport funding allocations
is growing rapidly - with proposed port expansions set to increase container trade by 71 per cent, while the expansion of Stansted is set to increase passengers from 24 million per year this year to 68 million per year by 2030.

EEDA is driving a region-wide campaign to ensure that key decision-makers recognise the level of investment that is needed to develop a sustainable transport network capable of supporting the growing East of England region.

Why should we invest in a sustainable transport network?

A sustainable transport network in the East of England is essential for business:

creating access to more jobs for more people, reducing travel costs for businesses and encouraging smarter ways to work.

A sustainable transport network in the East of England is key to delivering economic and housing growth in the region:

the region has ambitious targets for half a million new dwellings and 450,000 new jobs by 2021.

The transport gateways are expanding. However constraints on number of key routes are leading to significant economic problems:

without investment to support the most economically important parts of our transport network the regional and national economy will suffer.

We also need to do more to ensure that transport solutions help protect the environment for the coming generations:

the requirement to reduce the region's environmental footprint will require significant reduction of carbon emissions from transport.

What is EEDA doing to promote the case for investment?

Transport Economic Evidence study

EEDA has commissioned the landmark 'Transport Economic Evidence Study' (TEES). For the first time this will enable the region to quantify the economic costs of existing and future constraints on the transport network and demonstrate the benefits of targeted investment in transport improvements. The executive summary of the results is published below. The full version will be published in due course.

Improving transport bottlenecks

Alongside wider regional economic evidence, EEDA is also investigating the benefits of addressing specific transport bottlenecks. One example is the EEDA / Norfolk County Council / GO-East study of the A11 Fiveways to Thetford Wider Economic Impact, which has demonstrated the wider economic benefits of upgrading the section of single-carriageway to dual-carriageway.

Regional Infrastructure Fund

EEDA is leading the way on developing a Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF), a mechanism designed to raise additional and earlier funding for infrastructure in the East of England. This will help the region to deliver the extra transport infrastructure that is necessary to facilitate growth. EEDA has commissioned experts to develop a workable proposition, and this will be published in summer 2008.

Throughout the development of the RIF, local authorities, business and others will be encouraged to contribute to the debate on options for funding, how to prioritise projects and potential pilot projects to pursue. It is envisaged that the RIF will be active from April 2009.