The transport system moves goods and people and helps to make the economy tick.
Good transport is needed to get people to work and many jobs are based on extensive travel.
Transport is also a major contributor to the economy in its own right, currently employing around 1.7 million people 9 . We rely on efficient transport to ensure that goods and services are distributed throughout the UK and exported overseas. Yet in recent years investment in transport has failed to maintain the physical quality of the system, allowing valuable assets to deteriorate. More than four-fifths of domestic freight tonnage goes by road. But traffic congestion now costs the nation billions of pounds each year and with traffic forecasts pointing to more congestion these costs can only increase.