§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to extend priority red routes(a) in London and (b) to other cities. [100070]
§ Mr. HillThere are no plans to extend red routes in London. From July 2000, the red route network will be replaced by the GLA road network and will become the responsibility of the Mayor. Elsewhere, it is primarily for local authorities to use their existing traffic management powers to control parking effectively and give appropriate priority to buses. We look to them to so do, in the context of developing their local transport plans and bus strategies.
§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what assessment he has made of the effect of priority red routes in London on carbon dioxide emissions; [100069]
(2) what assessment he has made of the effect of priority red routes on the number of accidents on (a) red routes and (b) other roads; [100071]
(3) what assessment he has made of the effect of priority red routes on local air quality in each London borough; [100068]
(4) what assessment he has made of the effect of priority red routes, in each London borough, on (a) the volume of motorised traffic and (b) traffic speeds on (i) red routes and (ii) other roads. [100067]
§ Mr. HillThe Traffic Director for London monitors the effects of the traffic management measures on the red route network (the network) as a whole (not individually136W by borough) to determine the performance of the network. Reports on these are published annually. His latest report shows:
(a) traffic volumes have not changed on the network during the period of implementation;(b)(i) depending on time of day, average journey speeds on the network were between 17.0 and 22.9 mph in 1998. This is a considerable improvement on the journey speeds of between 14.3 and 18.4 mph in 1994 before red route implementation commenced;(b)(ii) The Traffic Director does not monitor journey speeds off the network.The Traffic Director for London maintains a record of traffic conditions on red routes from which it is possible to gain a better understanding of the changes in emissions from road vehicles. He does not directly monitor air quality but uses the collected data to model emissions. Between 1995–97 the model shows between 3 per cent. and 5 per cent. less carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons emissions on implemented sections of the red route compared with non-implemented sections.According to the model used by the Traffic Director for London between 1995–97, emissions of carbon dioxide on the network were approximately 2 per cent. less where red route measures had been implemented in comparison with those sections of the network that had not yet been implemented.
The Traffic Director for London monitors accidents at the end of each year. His current data on accidents show that the number of personal injury accidents on the network has reduced by 8.8 per cent. compared with a 0.5 per cent. reduction on other roads in London.