Anyone who has been stranded on the M6 understands the frustration and stress that poor transport provision can create.
It hardly comes as a surprise then that, according to Bibby Financial Services, small business loses around £2 billion a year as staff languish in traffic jams or get stuck waiting for delayed public transport.
As those in small business are acutely aware, time is a precious resource when you are trying to juggle competing responsibilities.
There is already a raft of time-consuming problems - such as regulation, paperwork and late payers - to firefight, making it hard to find the time to move a business forward. The last thing that any business owner needs is that precious resource wasted because of poor transport provision.
As members of the Coven-try and Warwickshire have suggested, there is certainly a case for more investment. However, as we have seen with the M6 Toll - massive investment doesn't necessarily mean a massive reduction in congestion.
That is why I have to support the chamber's call for a more creative approach to transport. It is common sense that providing a range of different transport solutions has the potential take some of the strain off the roads.
However, what irritates me about such calls, is who exactly should be removed form the roads?
Time and again interested parties - business people, parents, bus companies and freight - make their case for having more of a right to the road. Such attitudes block progress and make investment in alternative transport a risky business. If nobody is prepared to use it, why bother?
Sick of traffic jams, I removed one car from Birmingham's congested A38 by cycling to work.
My commute is the perfect combination of somebody's foresight to invest in a National Cycle Route and - without trying to sound sanctimonious - my own commitment to finding alternative travel.
The change keeps me healthier, less stressed and often gets me into work quicker than car, train or bus.
I couldn't recommend it enough and would be the first to shout out that the region needs to show its support for such a green and healthy way to travel.
However, it's not just the individual that can make the change - companies can be brave enough to take on the transport challenge.
Building products company Wolseley has reduced the number of car parking spaces at its new headquarters in Leamington Spa and organises its own car sharing scheme. Cadbury has signed up to a scheme to provide tax-free bicycles to employees. Both prove that a little creative thinking can go a long way.
Yes, let us campaign for a smarter, integrated transport system. But let us also show that as businesses and individuals we're also innovative enough to start making a change ourselves.
