Motorways

HC Deb 12 March 2003 vol 401 cc256-7W

Mr. Laws

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the costs of (a) congestion and (b) pollution relating to traffic on English motorways; and if he will make a statement. [101516]

Mr. Jamieson

My Department commissioned a study from the Institute for Transport Studies^* at the University of Leeds. That study made the following estimates of congestion and pollution on motorways in Great Britain:

1. (a) Congestion costs: 12.8 pence per vehicle km
2. (b) Pollution costs: 0.35 to 1.83 pence per vehicle km

^* Surface Transport Costs and Charges, Great Britain 1998, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds July 2001.

Mr. Laws

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the benefits of introducing congestion charging on motorways; and if he will make a statement. [101530]

Mr. Jamieson

No general assessment has been made.