Labour failing to meet target of cutting journeys by car

John Prescott's pledge that Labour would cut the number of car journeys was undermined yesterday when latest figures showed that traffic levels rose between 2000 and 2001.

Despite the Government's declaration that it wanted drivers to switch to public transport, the overall level of car use rose by 1.3 per cent and motorway traffic by 1.6 per cent.

The Department for Transport, which published the statistics, said that the rise was testimony to a "growing economy" but environmentalists and opposition parties were highly critical. David Davis, who shadows the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, said the Government's pledge to reduce traffic had been "blown out of the water".

"Despite making the car the most expensive part of the family budget, more people are using their cars because of this Government's utter failure to improve public transport," Mr Davis said. "Prescott said that Labour would have failed if there were not fewer journeys by car within five years and even by his standards, this Government has failed.

"Since Prescott's blustered pledge in 1998, car use has actually risen by almost 5 per cent, with motorway use up by over 20 per cent. No amount of spin can hide Labour's failure to improve public transport and reduce congestion."

Roger Higman, senior transport campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said the figures were another sign that the Government's transport policy was failing.

"They have backed away from the measures which might have made it work. Ken Livingstone [the Mayor of London] is the only one that's prepared to come out and do something to reduce traffic volumes, with the congestion charge."

But Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, said traffic was growing because of increases in car ownership, not because individuals were driving further.

"We are seeing more elderly people keeping cars longer, a greater proportion of younger people owning cars, a higher proportion of women in cars and more two-car households," he said.

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: "Higher levels of traffic are entirely consistent with a growing economy. With one million more people in work there are potentially two million more journeys every day. Our target – as set out in the [transport] 10-year plan – is to cut congestion and make better use of the transport network by letting traffic flow better. It does not necessarily require a reduction in traffic."