BRITAIN’S transport system requires a massive building programme to spare future generations from gridlock, according to the Government’s transport adviser.

Rod Eddington, the outgoing chief executive of British Airways, said that roads, railways, airports and ports all required significant investment. “If we don’t intelligently build infrastructure, then we diminish people’s lives,” he said. “This is about finding a framework for future infrastructure investment decisions. I’m looking at the whole transport system.”

Mr Eddington believes that new roads, runways, high-speed railway lines and shipping terminals will be needed to allow for an increasingly mobile population. He said that ease of mobility was fundamental in producing a prosperous and cohesive society, adding that rising road congestion is the most urgent problem.

Roads account for 93 per cent of the total distance travelled, with rail journeys making up only 6 per cent. Mr Eddington said that he was interested in the potential benefits of charging motorists a toll for every mile that they travelled on congested roads.

Alistair Darling, the Transport Secretary, this weekend repeated his promise to consider introducing a national road-pricing scheme by 2014.

He said: “I believe that in this Parliament we have got to decide whether or not road pricing is feasible, whether it’s the right thing to do, because if we don’t do anything, then we will face gridlock in 20 to 30 years’ time.”

Mr Darling said he would be looking for an area of the country to pilot road pricing in the next five years after a study found that it could cut congestion by almost half. The new charges would be offset by a reduction in fuel tax — dramatically cutting the price of petrol — and also, possibly, road tax.

The Transport Secretary added: “You are certainly not talking about a charge on top of another charge. You can’t have both.”

But while Mr Darling is keen to investigate a new tax for using existing roads, he has so far failed to commission any big new transport projects to relieve congestion.

Mr Eddington believes that charging must go hand in hand with the provision of new capacity in all modes of transport. He said: “We need to strike the right balance between infrastructure and demand management.

“The more people see of one another and the more they do business with each other, the less likely they are to go to war. A more mobile world will also be a more stable world, both politically and socially.”

Mr Eddington, appointed in March to advise the Government on the country’s long-term transport needs, said that he only agreed to work for the Government because he had received assurances that his proposals would result in action.

Lord Birt was also commissioned four years ago to produce some “blue-skies” thinking on transport, but his proposals for a new network of tolled motorways were shelved.

Mr Eddington said that he would be reporting directly to Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, and not just passing his findings to Mr Darling.

“I only accepted the challenge when I knew it was going to be Gordon, Alistair and me in the same room.”

He plans to produce a draft of his report by the end of the year and have the final version ready to inform decisions made by Mr Brown in the Budget next March. He said that his remit was to consider the size and shape of the network over the next 30 years.

Motoring groups cautiously welcomed the concept of road pricing yesterday but said it would be unacceptable unless other taxes were reduced by an equal amount.

Bert Morris, the director of the AA Motoring Trust, said that the scheme was feasible but the question was whether it was politically acceptable. He said: “Will people affected think they are better or worse off? Road pricing on top of existing taxes is not acceptable.”

He added: “What will be the impact on tourism of road pricing? Will people stop taking daytrips to the seaside because of it?”

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