The West Midlands may not be the best place to trial a road pricing scheme, according to business leaders. Sarah Probert reports... Three decades of under investment and the transport system is crumbling. An ailing New Street Station, a congested road network, falling bus passenger numbers and a desperate need for a Metro extension has resulted in a £2.5 billion loss to the region's economy each year. Business leaders heard last night that despite the many projects, plans and reports on how to get the West Midlands moving again, none of the schemes had yet reached fruition. At a transport debate hosted by the Institute for Chartered Accountants at Birmingham's Botanical Gardens, the idea of congestion charging or road pricing for the West Midlands was rejected by the majority of the audience of businessmen and women. Robin Birn, head of consultation and research at the ICAEW, said businesses rejected the concept because the region's public transport system was not good enough. He said they would only support road pricing if there were cheaper, more frequent and more reliable public transport links. He added: "Our research shows the West Midlands is not like London with its underground network and an increasingly integrated system. * Is road pricing the answer to the region's traffic problems? Tell us your view on this story. Get in touch by email, messageboard or send a web letter to the editor *"So congestion charging is not likely to work in the West Midlands, as the public transport needed to support this would be complex, particularly to support those who live in villages around the major business centres and have little public transport anyway at present." But the debate heard that the region is hoping to cut a deal with the Government - it will trial a road pricing scheme in return for a cash injection to improve public transport. But Brian Summers, vice chairman of the West Midlands Regional Assembly's Transport Partnership, said the region had not been guaranteed any cash and would have to fight against other regions for a share of the Treasury's Transport Innovation Fund. He said: "We have some 30 years of under investment by all Governments in transport and we are paying the price for that now. Investment is the only way forward. "We have had lots of studies, plans, options and reviews but we haven't made progress in getting the investment. "In terms of transport, the Transport Innovation Fund is the route to the Metro, New Street Station, for bus show case initiatives, and extension of traffic management systems from the M42 to other motorways. "It is the route to doing something about the traffic situation around the airport and the NEC. All these major projects have no route for this region to actually see them develop at the moment. "TIF is a competitive exercise, it is not a gift for every region - it is about a region saying we want that and are prepared to pay something to get it and payment is the potential road charging system." | 
