Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what definition her Department applies to determine when a road network is operating (a) at and (b) over full capacity.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Transport Business Cases follow the HM Treasury five-case Business Case model. Decisions are informed by the assessment of the scheme in relation to strategic fit, value for money, deliverability, commercial and financial considerations. The Department provides guidance to scheme promoters in DfT’s Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG).
The relationship between levels of demand and road capacity would be considered as part of the transport modelling and analysis for potential transport investments.
An introduction to this modelling, including the interaction of supply conditions and road demand, is provided in Chapter 3 of the TAG guidance for the Senior Responsible Officer. Further technical detail is provided in Appendix E of TAG unit M3.1, TAG unit M3.1 highway assignment modelling.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of (a) trends in the level of congestion on the Witney-Oxfordshire section of the A40 and (b) the potential impact of increased housebuilding in West Oxfordshire on congestion on that road.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Any assessment on congestion levels on this section of the A40 would be a matter for the local highway authority, in this case Oxfordshire County Council. Government has committed over £160 million of investment to the A40 West of Oxford, this would allow the County Council to take forward their housebuilding ambitions in the area with better infrastructure, including improved public transport priority measures.