§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to the recent White Paper on integrated transport and roads, if it is the policy of the Government to(a) reduce road congestion and (b) to curb traffic growth; and if he will revise his Department's traffic growth forecasts. [55287]
§ Ms Glenda Jackson[holding answer 19 October 1998]: As we made clear in the White Paper, in order to tackle the congestion and pollution that are caused by road traffic we need to reduce the rate of road traffic growth. We also want to see an absolute reduction in traffic in those places and streets where the greatest environmental damage is done. The New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone sets out how we plan to achieve these objectives through integrated transport policies acting at the national, regional and local level.
The White Paper explains that, with assistance from the Commission for Integrated Transport, we will be revising the 1997 National Road Traffic forecasts to reflect the new direction for transport provided by the New Deal.