The RAC Foundation (Royal Automobile Club Foundation for Motoring) is a British pro-motoring

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

and

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

History

The RAC Foundation was established as the research arm of RAC Motoring Services Ltd in 1991, when Motoring Services was owned by the

Royal Automobile Club The Royal Automobile Club is a British private Club (organization)#Country or sports club, social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, London, Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, ne ...

. In 1999, when Motoring Services was sold, the foundation became an independent organisation and received a legacy from the members of the RAC. It later gained charitable status.

Organisation

The Foundation has a board of six trustees and a Public Policy Committee of 14 members. Neville Jackson is the chair of both the trustee board and the Public Policy Committee. The day-to-day running of the Foundation is managed by the director, currently Steve Gooding, who took up the post in May 2015.

Work

The Foundation's research falls into four main categories: economics, environment, mobility and safety. It publishes research on th
RAC Foundation website
including interactive and automatically update
data charts
relating to topics such as fuel prices and the uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles. Though the Foundation carries out some research itself and also commissions experts in their field to investigate key areas of transport policy. In 2010 and 2011, the Foundation was one of the major sponsors of th
RAC Brighton to London Future Car Challenge
The Foundation analysed data collected from the low-carbon cars that completed the run and published its conclusions in Shades of Green (2010) and The Green Charge (2011). In 2017, the Foundation contributed to Gergely Raccuja's winning entry in the Wolfson Economics Prize. ''Miles Better'' explored how a distance-based insurance charge might replace fuel duty and VED as revenue falls with the greening of the vehicle fleet. In June 2018, it was announced that the Foundation would receive £480,000 of funding from the Department for Transport to support its Road Collision Investigation Project to trial "an innovative new approach to road casualty investigation, looking more closely at what is really causing road collisions."

Reports

Key publications and research include: *''Roads and Reality'' *''The Car in British Society'' *''Governing and Paying for England’s Roads'' *''Keeping the Nation Moving'' *''Fuel for Thought, the What, Why and How of Motoring Taxation'' *''On the Move: Car and Rail Travel Trends'' *''Powering Ahead: Future of Low-Carbon Cars and Fuels'' *''Ploughing On - Winter Resilience Review'' *''The Car and the Commute'' *''Graduated Driver Licensing - Mapping the Cost of Young Driver Accidents'' *''Saving Lives by Lowering Legal Drink-Drive Limit'' *''Effectiveness of Average Speed Cameras'' *''Air Quality and Road Transport'' *''Diesel Scrappage - Could it Work?'' *''Towards an Accident Investigation Branch for Roads'' *''New car mileage - analysis of MOT data''

References

{{Reflist

External links

RAC Foundation website
Automobile associations in the United Kingdom Road safety Transport advocacy groups of the United Kingdom Transport charities based in the United Kingdom Road safety in the United Kingdom 1991 establishments in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1991 Motoring advocacy groups