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2 Dec 2005 : Column 811W—continued
Growth Areas Directorate
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Department has a growth areas directorate. [34077]
Dr. Ladyman:
A team of officials in the Department's regional and local transport delivery directorate is responsible for overseeing the delivery of transport infrastructure in the growth areas. They have close working relations with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which has lead responsibility for the sustainable communities plan agenda.
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Public Transport Usage (London)
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of how many commuters travelled on public transport in London in each month since January 2002. [27154]
Ms Buck: Overall responsibility for transport in London rests with the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL). TfL have provided information on London Buses, London Underground and the Docklands Light Railway, which has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Rail Regional Planning Assessments
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the (a) original and (b) expected completion dates of the rail regional planning assessments are. [32439]
Derek Twigg: The original completion dates of the rail Regional Planning Assessments (RPA) were published by the SRA in October 2003. At that time it was anticipated that the programme would be complete by December 2005. I am currently considering the drafts of the North East England RPA and Eastern RPA with a view to publication shortly. An updated programme will be published after the publication of these first two RPAs.
Roads
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what role the regional assemblies have in prioritising the construction of new road building schemes of national importance in their region. [34071]
Dr. Ladyman: Regional assemblies are consulted on major road schemes on the strategic road network within their regions, including schemes on routes of national importance, before decisions are taken on whether to add such schemes to the Highway's Agency's targeted programme of trunk road improvements.
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the Department expects to publish the results of the Demonstration of Interoperable Road user End-to-end Charging and Telematics Systems project. [34092]
Dr. Ladyman: We expect to publish results from the DIRECTS (Demonstration of Interoperable Road user End-to-end Charging and Telematics Systems) project, assuming data capture and analysis continue to go well, in the 4th quarter of 2006.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance and best practice manuals his Department has produced for local authorities' highway departments on (a) speed cameras and (b) traffic-calming measures. [33171]
Dr. Ladyman: The information is as follows.
(a) General guidance on the use of speed cameras was originally contained in Circular Roads 1/92 and 1/95. The Department has since introduced strict criteria to govern the deployment of cameras operating within the National Safety Camera Programme. These are
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contained in a Handbook of Rules that has been issued to every Safety Camera partnership in England and Wales. A copy is available in the House Library.
(b) The Department's Traffic Calming Bibliography, Traffic Advisory Leaflet 2/05 published in January this year, lists the main items of published advice and research into the design, use and effectiveness of traffic calming measures. Copies of this leaflet are available in the House Library.
In addition, a Local Transport Note on Traffic Calming is being drafted. This will summarise existing information on the design and effectiveness of traffic calming measures. The Department plans to publish this Local Transport Note early next year.
Road Traffic (London)
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the average speed travelled by private cars in London in (a) 1999–2000 and (b) 2004–05. [31883]
Dr. Ladyman: Estimates are available for average traffic speeds in London and are derived from speed surveys conducted on a three-year cycle by Transport for London. These surveys measure the average speed of all traffic. Speeds by individual vehicle class such as cars are not available.
Average traffic speeds for the periods 1997–2000 and 2003–06 are as follows:
The 2003–06 cycle is not complete and the outer area survey information is not yet available.
School Buses
David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of safety provisions in legislation covering the use of buses transporting children to school with particular reference to safety of buses (a) with more than 16 seats and (b) carrying older pupils. [32906]
Dr. Ladyman:
Government statistics distinguish accidents involving mini-buses from those involving larger passenger vehicles but are unable to differentiate those accidents involving buses from those involving coaches. Similarly, the statistics do not differentiate between organised school transport and regular bus services carrying children to school.
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With respect to children (12 to 15), and making no distinction for the time of day at which the accident occurred, there was an average of 0.4 fatalities and 20 serious injuries per year for the period 1994–98. In 2004 there was one fatality and 18 serious injuries. These figures reduce slightly if we consider the peak time of day for school transport. Considering only the period 7am to 10 am and 3 pm to 6 pm during weekdays, serious injuries reduce to 15.
The figures are lower for the younger age group (0 to 11) where the 1994–98 average was 0.2 fatalities and 14 serious injuries. In 2004 the figures for this group were 0fatalities and nine serious injuries, reducing to eight during the peak school transport period.
Buses and coaches are the safest mode of personal/passenger road transport, when considering the number killed and seriously injured (KSI) with respect to the number of kilometres travelled. Figures for 2003 indicate that the rate of KSI per billion kilometres travelled was 10 for bus and coach travel compared with 27 for passenger cars, 534 for cyclists and 443 for pedestrians.
The Government is committed to improving child road safety. In 2000 it set itself a challenging target to reduce, by 2010, the KSI child casualties (0 to 15 years) to 50 per cent. of the 1994 to 1998 average. The data indicate that in 2004 there were 3,905 KSI child casualties. This represents a reduction of 43 per cent. on the baseline and we are therefore well on track to meet or exceed our target.
Seat Belts
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many copies were issued of the consultation document published by his Department in 2004 on changes to seat belt wearing regulations; if he will place responses in the Library; and if he will make a statement; [34259]
(2) if he will list the (a) organisations and (b) individuals who were sent a copy of the consultation document published by his Department in 2004 on changes to seat belt wearing regulations; and if he will make a statement; [34260]
(3) if he will list the (a) organisations and (b) individuals who requested a copy of the consultation document published by his Department in 2004 on changes to seat belt wearing regulations; and if he will make a statement. [34261]
Dr. Ladyman: This consultation document concerns seat belt wearing in buses and coaches. It was published in September 2004, and 278 copies were then issued by the Department.
The consultation document is available on-line at: www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_rdsafety/documents/divisionhomepage/039143.hcsp
The Department's decision following consultation, including a Summary of Responses, was published on 19 July 2005 and has been placed in the Library. It is also on the Department's website.
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A list of the consultees is available at annex B to the consultation document. No records are available for those who subsequently requested a copy of the document or downloaded it from the website.
Regulations are in preparation to come into force in 2006 (subject to parliamentary approval) to require seated passengers aged three years and above to use seat belts where they are available in the larger buses and coaches. Seat belt wearing is already a requirement in vehicles below 2,450 kgs unladen weight (roughly 16 seats) where they are installed.
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