Alan Whitehouse BBC Northern Transport Correspondent

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Every hour in a traffic jam puts �35 on transport costs

When Stuart Archbold sends one of his 150 trucks on a job, he has little idea of what to expect. Jams and congestion are completely unpredictable.

And, as progress is monitored from his state-of-the-art control room, the West Yorkshire haulage boss can count the cost - literally.

He calculates that it costs �35 an hour to keep a truck on the road whether it is stuck in a jam or moving.

On average all 150 vehicles in his fleet lose an hour a day because of traffic congestion.

This adds over �1.2m to his company's costs every year.

It's easy to see what is going wrong. Europe has traditionally spent far more on transport than Britain.

Vienna spends around 464 euros per citizen per year. That compares with just 23 Euros per head in West Yorkshire.

London invests more than three times on transport than Yorkshire and the Humber

But an alarming new trend is developing. Spending on transport projects in London is steadily outstripping spending in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

Today Londoners get �667 per person per year while in the Yorkshire and Humber region it is around �220.

According to Department for Transport figures, that gap will grow even wider over the next few years.

Northern cities are not only losing out to Europe, they are losing out to London too.

Leeds has just had plans for tram systems rejected by the Government. Try commuting by train and it is the same story.

The average age of carriages on the London commuter network is 12 years.

But in the North the average commuter train age is 17. Some are even older and that is well beyond their intended lifespan.

Investment being made could prove to be too little and far too late.

A new fleet of express diesel trains has been ordered for the cross-Pennine rail service between the North West and Yorkshire.

The existing trains are badly overcrowded as passenger numbers between Manchester and Leeds have soared by 17% in the past year alone.

Will new trains relieve congestion

The new three-carriage trains will buy a few years of breathing space.

However, overcrowding will be as bad as today unless even more cash can be found to add a fourth carriage.

In the meantime, there is evidence that poor transport systems are damaging the wider economy.

Companies planning to set up new operations clearly compare how easy it is to move goods and people around.

Squeezing investment on public transport is undoubtedly relieving the short term demands on the public purse.

However, as Stuart Archbold's truck drivers spend even more time on choked up roads, there is concern is that an even bigger bill is being clocked up.

Regional Transport Correspondent Alan Whitehouse investigates the policies and pressures on our transport systems on the Politics Show for Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

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