§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of measures of traffic congestion; and which measure his Department uses for the purposes of assessing the cost and benefit of road construction and traffic management schemes. [26664]
§ Mr. JamiesonAs part of the assessment of the costs and benefits of road schemes, an estimate is made of the expected change in journey times as a result of the scheme, compared with a forecast without the scheme. Money values are attributed to those changes in journey times.
In making an overall assessment of the merits of road proposals, this measure of congestion relief is considered alongside other impacts including environmental and safety ones and compared with the capital and maintenance costs of the scheme. In addition, a measure of the total vehicle hours saved is used to assess that scheme's contribution to the Department's target for congestion.