HC Deb 12 July 1967 vol 750 cc72-3W
26. Mr. Park

asked the Minister of Transport what projects of economic research are being undertaken or sponsored by her Department.

Mrs. Castle

A substantial programme of economic research is now proceeding in my Department. A schedule of the research projects now in progress is given below. The list excludes statistical inquiries that provide information mainly for general needs.

Economic Research Projects undertaken or sponsored by the Ministry of Transport, July, 1967 The aim of the classification system adopted below is to give a broad indication of the scope of the work involved; a number of research projects contain elements falling in more than one category.

A. ECONOMIC RESEARCH PROPER

  1. 1. Transport Costs Model: A study of the economics of trunk transport for freight and passengers along selected routes.
  2. 2. Shipper Survey: A survey of firms' demand for different modes of inland freight transport.
  3. 3. Transport decisions within firms: A study on how transport decisions are reached within firms, and the factors affecting these decisions.
  4. 4. Choice of mode of transport for journey to work: A study to develop and test a technique for measuring the attractiveness of different modes of transport.
  5. 5. Modal Choice in long-distance passenger travel: A study of the factors influencing passengers' preferences for long-distance travel.
  6. 6. Urban Transport Cost Model: A study to show the cost structure of different urban modes of transport, the relationship between transport costs and other urban development costs, and the relationship between transport and urban form.
  7. 7. Financial results of bus operation: A study to identify the factors determining profitability of bus operation, and to establish the costs of specific types of service.
  8. 8. Studies of container potential: Objects are to establish the potential volume of seaborne container traffic, to investigate what modes of transport should handle this traffic, and the number and location of berths.
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  9. 9. Pallet Pool feasibility study: An attempt to discover whether there is a need for a national, or international Pallet Pool, and what form this might take.
  10. 10. Repercussions of new braking and plating regulations: This study aims to discover what costs would be imposed on operators by the introduction of higher braking standards, and more stringent weight restrictions.

B. DEVELOPMENT OF MODELS AND TECHNIQUES

  1. 1. Development of cost/benefit techniques: A three-year study at the Institute of Economics and Statistics, Oxford University, of cost/benefits techniques in the field of urban planning.
  2. 2. Transport network theory Unit: A study at the London Graduate School of Business Studies designed to improve techniques for assigning transport demand to different parts of a transport network, road and rail.
  3. 3. Inter-Urban road network analysis: An attempt to explain the traffic loadings on the trunk road network in mathematical terms.
  4. 4. Highways Economics: Research into the economics of highway planning, including design construction maintenance and operation of the trunk network; development of criteria for selection of road schemes, and for determining the optimum size of the road programme. (There is a substantial clement of economic research in the more general sense in these studies.)