COMPANY car drivers are fiercely opposed to any increase in benefit-in-kind taxation, according to the UK's biggest survey of fleet drivers. Lease Plan questioned 950 company car drivers and found 93% were hostile to higher company car tax, while only 2% described the Government's transport policy as good.

Almost half of those surveyed for 'Driving through the Millennium: 1998 survey of company car drivers' described current levels of congestion as 'very serious' or 'critical,' with drivers losing on average 2 hours 13 minutes in traffic jams every week. In some areas the situation is so grave that 21% believe congestion adds as much as four or five hours to their weekly driving time. The majority (76%) believes the answer to motorway congestion lies in moving freight from roads to rail, while 69% think car dependency would decline if public transport was cheaper than travelling by car.

Howard Thomas, managing director of Lease Plan, said: 'Congestion hold-ups have a significant effect on productivity of both a company and an individual. It is unbelievable to think 11 working days per year are wasted in congestion, if you look at that figure over a 'working' life it equates to approximately 495 days. All the evidence points to a significant investment in public transport before punitive taxes on motorists can be introduced.'