§ Mr. Edward DaveyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment his Department has made of the effect of introducing buses with a maximum width of 2.55 m on existing bus services, with particular reference to the impact of such a change on the number of bus routes that would have to be discontinued. [112408]
§ Mr. HillFollowing an extensive consultation, the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 were amended in 1995 (SI 1995 No. 3051) to allow vehicles to operate at a maximum width of 2.55 m. No problems were raised at the time of the consultation in respect of this increase. The dimension is a maximum allowance and, therefore, it is permissible to operate buses at less than 2.55 m on routes that require narrower vehicles to be used.