HC Deb 10 March 2003 vol 401 cc53-4W
Mr. Laws

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the merits of funding new trunk roads in the private sector through road tolls; and if he will make a statement. [101639]

Mr. Jamieson

There has been no general assessment of funding new trunk roads in the private sector through road tolls.

Mr. Laws

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his latest estimate is of the total external social costs in pence per average vehicle mile for road travel in the United Kingdom accounted for by(a) congestion costs, (b) accident costs, (c) air pollution costs, (d) noise pollution costs and (e) climate change costs; and if he will make a statement. [101526]

Mr. Jamieson

A study commissioned by my Department from the Institute for Transport Studies1 at the University of Leeds made the following estimates of the marginal external social cost of road use per vehicle kilometre in Great Britain:

  1. a) Congestion costs: 9.71 to 11.16 pence
  2. b) Accident costs: 0.82 to 1.40 pence
  3. c) Air pollution costs: 0.34 to 1.70 pence
  4. d) Noise pollution costs: 0.02 to 0.78 pence
  5. e) Climate change costs: 0.15 to 0.62 pence

1Surface Transport Costs and Charges, Great Britain 1998, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds July 2001.

Mr. Laws

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his estimate is of the total growth in vehicle miles travelled on United Kingdom roads in each year from 1980–81 to 2002–03; and if he will make a statement. [101527]

Mr. Jamieson

The year on year growth rates for vehicle miles travelled from 1980–81 to 2002–03 are detailed in the table.

Percentage
Year All Motor Vehicles
1980 6.2
1981 1.8
1982 2.7
1983 1.3
1984 5.2
1985 2.2
1986 5.1
1987 7.7
1988 7.2
1989 8.3
1990 1.0
1991 0.2
1992 0.1
1993 0.0
1994 2.5
1995 2.0
1996 2.7
1997 2.3
1998 1.5
1999 1.7
2000 0.3
2001 1.3
2002 2.4

The figures on which these are based have been published in the Transport Statistics Bulletin (02)23—Road Traffic Statistics: 2001 (Table 1.1) and Transport Statistics (03)5—Traffic in Great Britain: Q4 2002 Data, copies of which are in the House of Commons Library.