§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will provide details of progress which has been made by his Department with the delivery of Transport Direct against the timetable originally outlined; what further steps he plans to take to implement these plans according to the original timetable; what amendments to the original timetable(a) have been made and (b) are planned; and if he will make a statement. [23518]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe 10-Year Plan, published in July 2000, said that by 2003 we expect Transport Direct to include
real-time train operating information;real-time information on many local bus services;internet travel information, covering road journeys as well as all forms of public transport at a single point of contact;internet booking of long-distance journeys involving different forms of transport; anddevelopment of internet based maps that allow travellers to examine public transport options both for visiting a specific venue and for general travel around an area.We are on course to deliver these targets.
Since the publication of the "10-Year Plan", we have made considerable progress:
Traveline is up and running;Traveline has a website and an increasing number of areas should be added to this during 2002;Journey Solutions is expecting to launch the work it is doing in spring 2002 and has added several new schemes;a feasibility study for rail real time has started and should report in March 2002;we are investing heavily—£20 million—in bus real time systems next year as part of the local transport plan arrangements;Sir Malcolm Field has been appointed as Transport Direct's external adviser.