An introduction to roads

Ensuring the road network functions efficiently and safely is a priority for the Government. Roads allow goods to be transported around the country and ensure people can get to work, school and the shops, as well as visit friends and family. They are essential to the economic prosperity of the country and to the everyday lives of the millions of people who use them.

Road Congestion

There are six million more vehicles on our roads now than in 1997 and more two car households than no car households.

Traffic is predicted to keep growing, much of it on roads and motorways that are currently operating at or near full capacity during busy periods.

The Eddington Transport Study published in December 2006 said that if left unchecked, congestion is set to rise considerably by 2025, costing the economy £22 billion every year, impacting on the environment and causing frustration for road users.

So it is clear that we need to tackle congestion on our busiest routes now to avoid gridlock tomorrow.

But while building and widening roads may be necessary in some areas, to manage congestion we would need to increase our road building programme several times over.  This would be unacceptable both for financial and environmental reasons.  So we are exploring options for tackling congestion including different ways of charging  for road use.

That's why we are proceeding with the Demonstrations Project to understand better how we might target congestion by charging on the basis of where and when a journey is being made.  But a national road pricing scheme is an option for the future, and we do not yet have the answers to people's concerns about fairness and personal privacy.  Therefore we are also focussing on what can be done now to deal with congestion, and targeting those parts of the network that are busiest - urban roads and motorways.

In urban areas we are working with local authorities to develop schemes combining investment in local public transport with congestion charging schemes (Transport Innovation Fund).

On our motorways, we have piloted controlled use of the hard shoulder as an extra lane during busy times on the M42, and plan to improve further sections of the motorway network around Birmingham in a similar way by 2011.  We have also studied how hard shoulder running and other advanced signalling and traffic management techniques could be used more widely across the road network to add targeted capacity, offer smoother flow and more predictable journeys at significantly lower cost than motorway widening, with fewer damaging environmental effects.

And we are also looking at the role managed lanes could play in making the most of new capacity (see Expanding choice and cutting congestion on our motorways). Allowing motorists to enter a reserved lane if they are carrying passengers or willing to pay a toll gives them a real choice without having to change their route.

The Government is also taking a number of other measures to tackle congestion:

• Around 1,100 Traffic Officers are now patrolling the motorways, attending around 1,000 incidents a day to get traffic moving more quickly after incidents and accidents;
• We are providing more accurate, up to the minute travel information for road users through the National Traffic Control Centre;
• We are investing to improve the capacity of roads, such as widening parts of the M25 and the M1;
• We are using powers in the Traffic Management Act to minimise the congestion caused by street works and illegally parked vehicles; and
• We are promoting increased take up of workplace and school travel plans and are investing £140m to teach children to cycle safely and encourage more adults to cycle;
• We have set a Public Service Agreement (PSA) target to tackle congestion at local and national level

Reducing congestion will have wider benefits for the environment, complementing existing environmental measures taken by the Government including:

• The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) which will ensure that a percentage of transport fuels come from renewable sources.  The Government announced a review in February 2008 into the indirect effects of biofuel production.  This review will inform the development of future biofuel policies and targets, including proposed EU targets for future biofuel consumption;
• Graduated Vehicle Excise Duty and company car tax graduated by CO2, so the most polluting vehicles pay more in road tax than cleaner ones;
• Campaigns to promote the take up of eco-efficient driving techniques, and to help people to purchase more environmentally friendly cars; and
• Working with our European partners, and with industry, to develop improved emission standards.

Road Safety

Ensuring roads work efficiently is just part of the story. We also have to ensure they are safe for people to use and that is why we have a PSA target to reduce the many deaths and injuries on the road each year.

The approach to meeting this challenge is to combine education, engineering, and enforcement.

Education

Our award winning THINK! campaign educates drivers about a range of dangerous behaviours including drinking and driving, speeding, not wearing a seat belt and using a hand-held mobile phone whilst driving - behaviours that endanger anyone who uses the road from drivers to motorbike riders, pedestrians to cyclists. Over the last 30 years, road safety campaigns have greatly increased the rate of seat belt wearing and have made drinking and driving unacceptable for the vast majority of people.

Engineering

Sometimes the best way to reduce accidents is to change the lay out of the road or improve the design of junctions. Where this is the case, we provide highway engineering advice direct to local authorities to help them (Road Safety Good Practice Guide).

Engineering is also used in-car to protect people in the event of a collision, for example via ABS brakes, air bags and electronic stability control. We work closely with the car industry to encourage the development of new in-car safety technology and to regulate where necessary.

Enforcement

We work closely with the police on the enforcement of road safety law, including those in the new Road Safety Act, to ensure people who endanger lives on the road are dealt with appropriately, and the law abiding majority can use the roads safely to get where they need to go.

We have given local authorities civil enforcement powers so they can enforce parking contraventions and other traffic offences in a way that they deem appropriate for their local area. This ensure traffic can flow safely and efficiently which helps town and cities to thrive.

Reducing congestion and improving road safety are huge challenges and ones that the Department for Transport will continue to work closely on with Executive Agencies, local authorities and the many non-Governmental organisations with expertise in this area.

Tackling congestion on our roads - managing demand

Information about the Government's plans for managing the road network.