§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) at what level, compared to 1990, road traffic levels would have to be kept to ensure air quality targets for 2010 are met; [100468]
(2) to what level road traffic would need to be kept to ensure that carbon dioxide emissions from road traffic were 20 per cent. lower than those in 1990 by 2010; [100467]
(3) what assessment he has made of the impact of Government transport policies on traffic levels; what were traffic levels in 1990; and what are the projected levels for 2010. [100469]
§ Mr. HillNo estimate has been made of the level of traffic in 2010 which would be consistent with road traffic emissions in that year being 20 per cent. below the 1990 level. Such an estimate would depend on the assumptions made in respect of a number of other factors, including the fuel efficiency of the vehicle fleet, the mix of traffic between vehicle types, and the speeds at which traffic moved. This means that there will be a range of 2010 traffic totals which would be consistent with any given level of road traffic CO2 emissions.
Similar arguments apply to emissions of relevance to the National Air Quality Strategy, although here such an assessment would also need to take into account both significant variations in air quality at the local level, and emissions from non-transport sources, which can be just as important in addressing air quality objectives.
Motorised vehicle traffic on English roads in 1990 is estimated to have been some 353 billion vehicle kilometres. Revised assessments of future traffic levels, 201W taking into account the potential impact of the Integrated Transport White Paper, are being prepared to inform the Government's first report under the Road Traffic Reduction (National Targets) Act 1998, which will be published shortly.
§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how he plans to assess the impact of road traffic in relation to(a) the emission of gases which contribute to climate change, (b) air quality, (c) health, (d) traffic congestion, (e) land and biodiversity, (f) danger to other road users and (g) society in accordance with the requirements of the Road Traffic Reduction (National Targets) Act 1998. [100466]
§ Mr. HillThe Government will shortly be publishing their first report under the Road Traffic Reduction (National Targets) Act 1998 on the issue of whether to set a national road traffic reduction target. In preparation for that report, we are assessing how our policies can reduce each of these adverse impacts of road traffic.