§ Mr. Dudley Smithasked the Minister of Transport what is the cost of the Warwick sub-unit's Oxford-Birmingham traffic model up to the time of its abandonment, inclusive of departmental staff time; and what are the reasons why it failed to produce results suitable for the appraisal of Oxford-Birmingham traffic.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe model, which has been used to produce traffic data for a number of trunk road schemes in the Midlands, including the proposed M40 Oxford-Birmingham route, has not been abandoned. A new and more up-to-date model is, however, being developed. It is not possible to identify separately the full costs of creating and operating the old model, which has been continuously updated during its use on various schemes between 1968 and the present day.
§ Mr. Dudley Smithasked the Minister of Transport if he will list in the Official Report the traffic studies that have been carried out by his Department, county councils or consultants since 1967 for the Oxford-Birmingham area and the estimated cost of each study.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe following studies in the Oxford-Birmingham corridor have been completed or are still in hand. Only the costs of work carried out by consultants can be readily identified. These are shown below.
Cost M40 Traffic Study (completed) £100,250 Estimated Cost Oxford-Birmingham route Traffic study (in Hand) £670,000* * includes computer costs met direct by the Department