§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the national road traffic forecasts advisory group last met; when revised national road traffic forecasts are to be published; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which such forecasts are likely to be sensitive to the amount of road building planned. [5923]
§ Mr. WattsThe national road traffic forecasts advisory group last met on 20 June 1996. No decision has yet been made on when revised national road traffic forecasts are to be published. Work is continuing to assess the extent to which such forecasts are likely to be sensitive to the amount of road building planned. Past experience suggests only a small influence.
§ Mr. TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the likely effects of the policies in planning policy guidance note No. 13 about managing demand and reducing the growth in traffic, on the national road traffic forecasts. [5926]
§ Mr. WattsWe have commissioned research on the impact of the land-use planning policies contained in our planning policy guidance notes, the most relevant being PPG 6 and 13. This suggests that, of themselves, centralisation and higher density development will not have a significant impact on forecast traffic growth. We have not produced a formal estimate of the impact of complementary transport demand management measures. However, it is clear that both land-use policies and complementary transport measures would have to be developed and introduced together as part of any strategy to influence traffic growth.