§ Mr. Ben ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the role of yellow school buses in easing traffic congestion. [176065]
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§ Mr. JamiesonThe Department carried out an evaluation of various small-scale Yellow School Bus schemes in 2003. The evaluation found that well designed schemes do have the potential to reduce car dependency on the school run, but that care needs to be taken to ensure that they are appropriate to local circumstances and, in particular, do not reduce levels of walking or cycling, or undermine the viability of important commercial bus services. I am arranging for copies of the full evaluation report to be placed n the Libraries of the House.
Separately, as part of last year's Local Transport Capital settlement, the Department has provided £18.7 million of funding for a much larger scale Yellow School Bus scheme in West Yorkshire. Once this scheme has been implemented, we will be working closely with West Yorkshire PTE to evaluate the impacts of the scheme including the benefits to road traffic congestion.