Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many local authorities have made changes to road layouts to give more space to cyclists and pedestrians since the publication of the Department for Transport’s statutory guidance to local authorities under the Traffic Management Act 2004.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
It is for local traffic authorities to decide what measures to install to enable social distancing and active travel, and the Department does not maintain a record of local authorities that have implemented such changes. There are measures available to local authorities that can be implemented to widen pavements and that do not require extra powers or approval from the Department. For example, some authorities have used cones or barriers to reallocate part of the road to pedestrians as a temporary measure.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many individual (a) petrol pumps, (b) diesel pumps and (c) electric vehicle charge points there in each local authority in England.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Data on the number of individual petrol and diesel pumps in England is not available. The number of electric vehicle charging devices publicly available in England at 1 April 2020 was 14,979. The numbers for each local authority are provided in the attached document in an annex to this answer.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many of the 7,200 additional on-street electric vehicle?charge points announced on 9 May 2020 have been installed.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
In January the Government announced a doubling of the value of the On-street Residential Charing Scheme (ORCS) from £5 to £10 million, providing grant funding for as many as 3,600 chargepoints for motorists who do not have access to off-street parking. To ensure more Local Authorities and motorists can benefit from the scheme the Government again doubled the funding available for ORCS in May up to £20 million to assist with the cost of up to 7,200 more chargepoints. To date, the scheme has supported the installation of 555 chargepoints and provided funding for a further 1603 to be installed. Covid-19 has significantly slowed down installation rates and we would expect this number to increase as more Local Authorities are able to procure and install chargepoints as the Covid-19 Lockdown eases.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2020 to Question 64815 on Department for Transport: Coronavirus, how the £5 billion package for zero emission buses will be invested; and what the timeframe is for the 4,000 new zero emission buses to be in service.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The £5 billion package for buses and cycling is more important than ever as we put a green recovery for transport at the heart of our decision-making. Full details of a zero-emission bus programme, including how the funding will be distributed, are being developed and will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of peak-spreading commuter traffic.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
As the transport sector is restarted, DfT continues to work closely with Cabinet Office, BEIS, DHSC and others to develop contingency plans and to identify areas where there is increased risk of congestion or crowding.
The Department continues to recommend that the public avoids using public transport if possible and encouraging those travelling by public transport or in cars to avoid travelling in the peak to maximise capacity for key workers and the supply of goods.
The Department is also encouraging employers to continue home working and staggering start times so that demand can be reduced.
Departmental analysis to date shows that demand in the interpeak is currently higher than the traditional morning (and afternoon) peak.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with local authorities on (a) repurposing traffic lanes and parking spaces for cycling and wider footways and (b) the issues that those authorities have faced in doing that work.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department has regular discussions with local authorities at both Ministerial and official level on a range of transport related matters including cycling and walking. These discussions have informed the development of the Emergency Active Travel Fund, through which the Department is supporting local authorities with the introduction of measures of this sort, and the new network management duty guidance that the Department published on 9 May.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the number and proportion of people using public transport as their primary mode of transport in (a) the UK and (b) comparable countries.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The National Travel Survey (NTS) recorded that public transport was the primary mode of transport used for 9.6% of trips per person, per year in England in 2018.
Around 15% and 5% of people in England reported using the bus and train at least three times a week respectively in 2018 according to the NTS, equating to 8.2m and 2.7m people.
Data is not held for other countries, including other countries in the UK.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of increasing public transport service frequency to enable the same number of passengers to travel on that transport while applying the 1 metre rule as travelled on it prior to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
On 23 May, the Transport Secretary announced a further £283 million to help increase bus and light rail services across England as quickly as possible to help ensure there is enough space for passengers to observe social distancing guidelines, as we begin to re-open our economy.
The Government has approved £2.9bn of additional expenditure during the 2020/21 financial year to ensure that vital rail services continue to operate. This expenditure covers all train operators with franchise agreements with the Department.
To support Transport for London services we have agreed a £1.6 billion funding and financing support package to enable them to continue operating essential services, transporting passengers safely and protecting staff during the pandemic and supporting the capital’s gradual recovery from COVID-19.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the roll-out of electric infrastructure to service (a) boat and (b) ferry transport in rural areas.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
In the Clean Maritime Plan, published last year, the UK Government committed to identifying and supporting zero emission shipping clusters. It is Government’s ambition that clusters would combine innovation and infrastructure associated with zero emission propulsion technologies, including electrification, and that a number of clusters would be operational by 2035.
In line with this commitment, Government, in conjunction with a working group of the Clean Maritime Council, is undertaking a study on clusters. This study includes consideration of electric infrastructure for the maritime sector across the UK as a whole.
The results of this study will be fed into national strategic cross-Government work, including the Transport Decarbonisation Plan.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to ensure that public transport workers (a) feel safe going to work and (b) are given priority access to covid-19 testing.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department is working closely with the wider transport sector, including operators and trade unions, on the implementation of the Safer Transport guidance that aims to help organisations, agencies and others (such as self-employed transport providers) understand how to provide safe workplaces and services (the guidance can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-transport-guidance-for-operators).
The guidance sets out how employers can advise staff and passengers on maintaining good hand hygiene and on ways to keep their distance from other people as much as possible, including, for example, through using screens, staggering departures and arrival times, and reducing the use of face to face seating if possible.
It also outlines that staff should wear a face covering when they are unable to maintain social distancing in passenger facing roles, while recognising that there will be exceptional circumstances when a staff member cannot wear a face covering, or when their task makes it sensible (based on a risk assessment) for them not to wear a face covering.
The Secretary of State for Transport is committed to ensuring that every transport worker who requires testing has access. The Department is engaging closely with stakeholders and DHSC to ensure that a robust testing process is in place for transport workers, whilst recognising that priority needs to be given to patient care, front-line healthcare staff and social care workers. Everyone in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with COVID-19 symptoms can get tested. Antigen testing, or testing for current infection, is currently available through home delivery kits, regional test sites, satellite sites and mobile testing centres throughout the country.