Frustrated Fatal Fridays
Published: 16th August 2005
The National Motorway Month partners are today calling for more innovative measures to help cut congestion on our motorways and have produced a list of top priorities for helping ease congestion on the motorway network:
- Real Time Information - The main reason people find congestion annoying is because it makes their journey time unpredictable. The National Motorway Month group believes much of this frustration could be avoided if better real time information was provided to motorists. Currently, only 16 per cent of motorway drivers check the local traffic conditions before setting out on their journey. Of those that did check, 69 per cent had listened to a radio traffic bulletin and 19 per cent had checked Teletext or Ceefax. Greater use of technology such as that on the M8 near Glasgow which shows actual journey times to destinations at various points further along the motorway which also allows other, alternative routes to be considered, would help.
- Stopping rubberneckers - The Highways Agency has announced the trialling of a new screening device, aimed at keeping speeds up on the motorways and stopping drivers from being distracted by roadside accidents. If the trial is successful, the Motorway Month partners would like to see this idea rolled out across the UK motorway network.
- Traffic management measures - Highways Agency and the Scottish Executive should adopt more radical traffic management measures such as more variable speed limits, ramp metering and dedicated lanes, in order to help reduce congestion. In its Motoring Towards 2050 report, the RAC Foundation estimated that these measures could reduce congestion by some 10 -15 per cent.
- Merge in Turn signs - Further use of "Merge in Turn" signs at road works, asking motorists to ‘use both lanes’, should be considered. These are widely used in Scotland and research has found them effective at cutting nearside lane queuing at road works, and in persuading drivers to develop a measure of give and take when merging.
- Quicker police clear up of accidents - Computer controlled digital image recorders and evidence gatherers, which can record a series of images at any angle at the scene of an incident including an overhead view, could help reduce the time that a road is closed after a collision. These allow police officers to conduct their work at the scene of an incident in a more timely fashion. Such technology should be thoroughly trialled with a view to investment.
- Traffic Officers - The Highways Agency is rolling out traffic officers across its network over the next 12 months. Traffic officers are there to help drivers get moving again after incidents and working with the police to clear delays more quickly. A network of seven new regional traffic control centres will help the police and Highways Agency manage traffic more effectively. Scotland has recently seen the introduction of incident response vehicles to expedite accident clear up on some motorways and trunk roads.
"Motorway congestion is a very serious problem for many motorists, but there are some simple actions that can be taken to ease this. By introducing more variable speed limits, providing motorists with real-time information and using merge in turn signs, we could cut congestion and leave motorists able to enjoy their journey. Motorists will want to see real improvements on the motorways after the introduction of traffic officers.
"Effective traffic management will help but in the longer term we still need to see an expansion in capacity on our motorway network. It is better for the environment and economy to keep traffic on the motorway network rather than rat-running through towns and villages to avoid congestion.
"Motorists should be extra careful driving on a Friday evening as they are more likely to hit congestion or hit other cars."
* DfT Transport Trends 2004
**British Social Attitudes Survey (NatCen).
*** Attitudes to congestion on motorways and other roads - DfT March 2005
**** House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts - Tackling congestion by making better use of England’s motorways and trunk roads, June 2005.
