HC Deb 24 February 1999 vol 326 cc288-9W
Mr. Dalyell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make it his policy to evaluate networks of transport on a regional basis; and what proposals he has had from the Professor of European Economics in the University of Kent on this topic. [71111]

Ms Glenda Jackson

Under the new arrangements published on Monday 15 February, in draft Planning Policy Guidance Note 11 (PPG 11) on "Regional Planning", major transport network improvements are to be planned as part of the overall regional transport infrastructure, taking all modes into account. Regional planning bodies will be in the lead in this, working with the Government Offices and transport operators, providers and users.

I am unaware of any representations on this topic from the Professor of European Economics in the University of Kent.

Study Report
The potential benefits of road transport telematics TRL Report 220 1996
Institutional and financial aspects of traveller information systems WS Atkins 1997
Review of technologies for moving people in cities UCL Centre for Transport Studies 1997
Review of telematics relevant to public transport TRL Report 342 1998
Transport Interchange—Best Practice Colin Buchanan and Partners 1998

Work is going on in a number of different projects to help local authorities and others make use of these results. For example, the Department is supporting work to assist local authorities identify and plan for the deployment of new transport technologies. We are also part funding research to enable electronic journey planning systems to communicate with each other automatically so facilitating `seamless' journeys.

The Department has not undertaken any recent work purely to evaluate studies on this subject by other organisations. Account was however taken of such studies as appropriate in the commissions referred to.