Road Traffic Reduction Act 1997

United Kingdom

The Road Traffic Reduction Act 1997 arose from a private members bill and was passed a few weeks before the election. It has not yet come into force.


The Act imposes a duty upon local authorities, at the Secretary of State's direction, to make reports about traffic levels and anticipated growth in those levels in order to set targets for traffic reduction or at least a reduction in the growth rate.


Relevant guidance is likely to be issued by the Secretary of State which must be taken into account. No guidance has yet been issued, however, so it remains to be seen what sort of traffic measures the Secretary of State will be expecting to see - but we would anticipate that parking policies, pedestrianisation, public transport and planning policy will all have a part to play.


There is also a fresh road traffic reduction bill, shortly to have its first reading in Parliament, which is concerned with duties upon the Secretary of State so far as roads in his jurisdiction are concerned.


Legislation of this kind can, of course, be seen in the wider context of measures, proposals and policies to curb car use which will increasingly have a bearing upon the location and operation of development.