DEPARTMENT FOR
TRANSPORT News Release (039) issued by The Government News Network
on 4 March 2008
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