The New Transport Taxation Group

Focus of work

MTRU have been at the leading edge of transport planning for two decades, producing a series of ground breaking reports on bus priority, environmental impact, walking, cycling, freight, climate change, modelling and appraisal. They’ve worked for local and central government, local communities and environmental groups in urban and rural areas.

This project, New Transport Taxation Group, will create an ongoing group of independent experts who will provide insights and proposals for transport tax reform. FIT has supported this project with two grants.

Activities as part of the first grant in 2025 included:

• Establishing a dedicated website to call for ideas on key topics and publish drafts for comments. Topics identified were: 1) restructuring first year duties on cars following the slow down of EV manufacturer rules; 2) increasing VED on HGVs and moving to PAYG; 3) rethinking how to charge for frequent flying and a review of sustainable fuels; and 4) replacing fuel duty for cars (not confined to congestion charging).
• Evidence gathering to establish an information base from previous initiatives on road charging.
• Engaging with central and local government.
• Publication of report: Working Paper 1: Reforming Road Vehicle Taxation

Activities that will take place as part of the second grant include:

• Engagement with interested parties, including setting up and holding a meeting, reaching new bodies, and consolidating existing engagement.
• Engagement with government, including the new combined authorities, DfT and Treasury.
• Launching a call for topics for the next letter to the Chancellor.
• Drafting of letter and supporting research material and circulating it for comment