Department for Transport
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Better managed motorways and more funding to tackle urban congestion
Ruth Kelly, Transport Secretary, today published new plans to tackle congestion on our busiest motorways and give drivers greater choice over their journeys.
The feasibility study into extending the successful pilot of hard shoulder running on the M42 near Birmingham has identified around 800 lane kilometres of England's motorways which could soon benefit from using the hard shoulder as an extra lane.
Today's announcement also sets out options for managing this new road capacity to ensure that the benefits are maintained. These proposals will deliver real improvements for motorists who currently suffer from congested roads.
Further funding will also be dedicated to helping towns and cities develop and implement innovative local congestion-busting schemes, including local congestion charging, with the £200m a year Transport Innovation Fund extended for an extra four years.
Ruth Kelly said:
"The measures I've outlined today will tackle congestion in our towns, cities and on the motorways in a creative way which will be a win-win for the motorist.
"But experience shows that new road capacity has to be properly managed if it is not to simply fill up.
"There is a compelling argument for car-share or charged lanes, which have been used for some time in the US. In order to get maximum benefit, access to car-share lanes is limited to vehicles carrying passengers, or single drivers willing to pay a toll. I intend to explore the possibility for taking a similar approach here where we are adding new capacity."
The results of a Department for Transport feasibility study highlight large sections of the M1, M6 and M62, where improvements are already planned, as amongst the most likely to benefit from hard shoulder running. It also identifies additional locations that could benefit in the future, including the M27 around Southampton, the M4/M5 near Bristol and sections of the M23, M20, M3 and M4 that feed into the M25. A £150m scheme to extend hard shoulder running to part of the motorway box around Birmingham has already been announced.
Safety has been paramount throughout the pilot, by providing emergency refuge areas and monitoring traffic carefully, safety levels have not been compromised by hard shoulder running.
The Study also set out various ways to make the best use of additional capacity created by hard shoulder running - such as crawler lanes, car share lanes and charged lanes.
Work will now begin in earnest to identify proposals for specific stretches of the motorway network. Safety will remain an important factor in all further work.
Alongside this package of measures to tackle motorway congestion, Ruth Kelly also unveiled a further further four years of Transport Innovation Funding (TIF) to help towns and cities develop and implement innovative local congestion-busting schemes, building on what the Mayor has achieved in London. Ms Kelly announced a new round of TIF pump-priming to help local authorities plan such schemes, and extended the availability of the Fund to 2018/19.
Ruth Kelly said:
"Local authorities are already considering whether local road pricing, coupled with investment in public transport, could help them cut congestion. The extra funding I'm announcing today shows the Government's commitment to funding these schemes over the longer term and I hope that more local authorities will bring forward proposals for consideration."
Notes to Editors
1. The Department for Transport's Feasibility Study into extending motorway signalling and traffic management systems on a wider scale examined:
* whether new systems could offer additional lanes and traffic
flow capacity when and where needed, within the land corridors of
existing motorways;
* ideas for lane reservation such as high
occupancy vehicle lanes, heavy vehicle lanes and through traffic
lanes;
* better separation of slower and faster moving
traffic
* the provision of better and more timely information
to drivers
* compliance and enforcement issues; and
* ways
to secure environmental benefits from better flow management.
2. The study found that:
* There was a strong economic case for implementing hard shoulder
running schemes more widely across the motorway network
* This
would create a more managed motorway network infrastructure that
could also be deployed in other ways to enhance the management of
traffic flows
* The environmental impacts of hard shoulder
running schemes are likely to be lower than those associated with
road widening.
* In the medium term at least, most of the
benefits of planned motorway widening could be achieved through
hard shoulder running, at significantly lower cost.
*
Locations identified for hard shoulder running where widening was
not previously planned also offer good value investments.
*
Further work should be undertaken on the designs, costs and
benefits at particular locations.
3. Active Traffic Management (ATM) allows existing motorway space to be used more flexibly. It is a tool box of traffic management measures, including automated signalling and enforcement, driver information displays and comprehensive traffic monitoring, enabling rapid incident detection and response.
4. ATM uses sensors in the road collect information to inform automatic systems and operators at the Highways Agency's West Midlands Regional Control Centre of traffic conditions. This is used to plan a more flexible use of the motorway lanes, including opening up the hard shoulder and setting variable speed limits to respond to traffic levels or incidents and avoid or reduce traffic jams. This is conveyed via the display of real time information and instructions on overhead gantries.
5. The use of ATM techniques began on the M42 in Spring 2005 and full use of the system, including hard shoulder running, began in September 2006.
6. The first six months of the full M42 trial saw significant benefits for motorists, the environment and the economy. Use of the hard shoulder in peak periods saw average journey times fall by more than a quarter on the northbound carriageway and drivers' ability to predict their weekday journey times improved by 27%. Alongside this, overall fuel consumption reduced by 4% and vehicle emissions fell by up to 10%.
7. Those involved did not feel road safety was compromised - with 84% of drivers saying they felt confident about using the hard shoulder and 60% welcoming the idea of using it more widely across the motorway network. Alongside this, since the introduction of hard shoulder running the personal injury accident rate has fallen from 5.2 per month to 1.5 per month on this section of the M42.
8. The Feasibility Study published today suggests that hard shoulder running can provide a more cost effective solution for easing congestion on our motorways than widening, with smaller environmental impacts. A number of the locations on the M1, M6 and M62 identified as priorities for hard shoulder running were already being considered for improvement as widening schemes. The Highways Agency is now investigating hard shoulder running options in these locations.
9. In 2005 the DfT set aside £200m per year from 2008/09 to 2014/15 from the Transport Innovation Fund to support local packages of measures to tackle congestion through road pricing, or by exception a workplace parking levy, and investment in public transport. This is now being extended out to 2018/19 in line with the DfT's long term funding profile.
10. Pump priming is available in 2008 and 2009 to support local authorities as they develop their business cases for TIF. Ten areas have benefited from pump priming to date and two proposals - from Greater Manchester and Cambridgeshire - have been submitted. Further proposals are expected in the coming year or two.
Public Enquiries: 020 7944 8300
Department for Transport
Website: http://www.dft.gov.uk
