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From the 1950s and 1960s people in Britain incomes rose with the improved economic state after World War 2. With more income available to families, people were more able to purchase cars, travel abroad on holiday, and generally travel for leisure. This created a huge rise in the amount of demands for roads, railways, and air travel. International travel, especially holidays also rose which meant the tourism and transport industries grew.
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Train operations was privatised by the government in 1994 to promote competition and efficiencies in the railway industry. Train operation was split between several private companies who would maintain and operate all of the track, services were divided between several private companies. Some people argued that customers would benefit from competition and more investment; however, some felt that ticket prices had increased and that the system was becoming less efficient.
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The 1980s and 1990s saw people traveling greater distances to get to work. Cities and jobs grew and people decided to leave big cities and move to smaller ones, where housing was cheaper. This put greater demand on transport networks, making the train and roads too crowded during rush hour, and prompted further investment in both.
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In the 1990s, protests were set up in the form of protest camps to block the building of motorways and roads in the UK. It was felt that they would destroy habitats, pollute the air further and put more cars on the roads. Protests helped raise public awareness and inform subsequent planning decisions.
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Many UK motorways were widened throughout the 1980s and 1990s. This was to cope with the higher volumes of traffic created by rising levels of car ownership and increased commuting patterns. Additional lanes were constructed to the main routes, for example, the M25 and the M1, in order to decrease traffic jams and reduce travelling time. One of the main disadvantages to the widening of motorways was that it impacted the natural environment by destroying natural habitats .
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The stricter planning regulations of new transport developments were introduced to the UK from the 1990's. New major transport developments such as airport expansion, new roads, rail extensions all needed an environmental impact assessment and public consultation process before approval. These rules were implemented so as to protect the environment, local communities and wildlife from the impact of new transport projects.
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Air Passenger Duty (APD) is a tax on airline passengers introduced in the UK in 1994. Initially, APD was introduced to generate revenue, and was later employed as an attempt to discourage unnecessary air travel on environmental grounds. How much a passenger is charged depends on the distance traveled and class of travel.
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Officially opened in 1994, The Channel Tunnel linked the United Kingdom and France via an underground rail tunnel under the English Channel. The tunnel improved the flow of trade, tourism and travel between the United Kingdom and France, allowing for a more efficient alternative to the ferry, it also served to connect freight and passengers around Europe more quickly.
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The 1990s and 2000s also saw the rise in popularity of budget airlines, such as Ryanair and easyJet. Budget airlines cut back on in-flight services and flew to secondary, out-of-town airports in an effort to keep their flights to cheap prices. As this made air travel affordable for everyone, short breaks and travelling abroad across Europe increased dramatically.
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The airlines took to it in the early 2000s with the expansion of internet. It enabled the traveler to check in from their home through a computer or a mobile without having to wait in a queue at the airport counters. Traveling has now become quicker, convenient and hassle-free. It helps in minimizing the number of queues and improving efficiency for the airports as well as airlines and is the most common method now all over the world.
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From the start of the 2000s governments and environmental groups have shown great interest in transport and emissions and noise pollution. Cars, lorries and planes are widely considered major contributors of air pollution and climate change. Transport businesses were thus pressured into finding alternative ways of fuelling their transport by the use of alternative fuels, better energy consumption and lower noise pollution around busy roads and airports.
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Since the 2000s, governments and environmental bodies have developed increased concerns about the pollution from cars, lorries, trains and aeroplanes. Transport emission is part of both air pollution and climate change since it released both Carbon Dioxide and harmful gasses. Therefore, the governments set tighter environmental regulations and promoted the use of electric vehicles, clean fuel and environmentally friendly public transports.
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The plans to increase the capacity at airports such as Heathrow have proved to be one of the most significant debates of the 2000's onwards. The proponents argue that increased capacity has significant benefits to the economy as a result of more international travel and trade, also to employment. Conversely local communities and environmental activists are worried about carbon emissions and noise levels.
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The London Congestion Charge, implemented in 2003, sought to decrease the amount of traffic entering central London by making drivers pay a fee when they entered the designated area. It was intended that motorists would opt for public transport, cycling, or walking. This scheme was implemented to limit the amount of pollution and speed up travel within the center of London.
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Smart motorways have been a development in the UK since the end of the 1990s which were put in place in an attempt to reduce congestion and journey times. This technology involved the use of electronic signs which controlled speed, CCTV cameras monitoring the traffic flow and changing speed limits throughout a road. Furthermore in some parts of this scheme the hard shoulder was a designated extra lane during peak hours and so helped deal with the increase of vehicles on our road.
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Car ownership was quickly growing because people earned more in the 1950s and 1960s than they did before and cars were getting cheaper. Car usage increased for all kinds of purposes including work, the shop and for holidays and people wanted better transport on the roads and motorways. The government had no choice to provide new motorways such as the M1.
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In the Noughties customer behaviour altered to short holidays and weekend city breaks. The availability of cheap flights, the faster pace of modern living required quick and convenient travel, and the growth in international travel for business and holidays caused a demand in airports, rail and budget airlines.
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