§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the cost to business of traffic congestion on British motorways. [105264]
§ Mr. HillVarious estimates have been made of the value road users place on the total amount of time lost to congestion on the road network for different years and using different methods. They agree that taking all road users together and the British network as a whole the total runs to billions of pounds every year, and has been rising.
Although motorways account for a significant proportion of traffic—nearly 20 per cent. of all vehicle kilometres in England in 1996—analysis undertaken for the Government's report "Tackling Congestion and Pollution", published yesterday, suggests that they account for only about 5 per cent. of the total amount of vehicle time lost.