UK's first car-pooling lane announced

Sharing cars beats congestion is government mantra

By PH Staff / Friday, 10 December 2004 / Loading comments

The government's new scheme for cutting motorway congestion is a car-pooling lane. It's an idea already in widepread use in the US (right). The government hopes this will cut congestion and improve journey times by creating a dedicated lane reserved for vehicles carrying two or more people. A trial scheme will start on the M1, according to transport secretary Alistair Darling yesterday.

High occupancy vehicle (HOV) or carpool lanes aim to encourage drivers to share cars. Britain's first HOV motorway lane will be trialled on the M1 between junctions 7 and 10 (Milton Keynes South to St Albans). The car sharing lane will operate at peak times to help minimise delay and congestion for road users. Work is due to start in autumn 2005.

Work is already planned to widen the motorway at this point from dual three lanes to dual four lanes. The Highways Agency estimates that there would be five per cent fewer cars on the road if car sharing were adopted.

If the scheme proves successful, the Government will consider extending the car-sharing lane as far as Junction 13 when this section of the motorway is widened.

Three other sites on motorways in England were also studied by the Highways Agency, which manages the country's motorways, to see whether the sites would be suitable for the pilot scheme.

The four sites were:

M1 Jct 13 - 7
M3 Jct 3 - 2 (into London)
M61 Jct 6-3 (near Bolton)
M62 Jct 25-27 (Brighouse to Leeds)

Darling said, "The government is determined to tackle congestion - adding capacity where necessary and making better use of existing road space. Carpool lanes encourage drivers to share their vehicle by providing dedicated lanes for vehicles with passengers.

"Making better use of our road network, these lanes have been used to great effect both in America and Australia and could play a key role in reducing congestion on Britain's motorways. I hope motorists will be encouraged to consider carpooling and take advantage of the new lanes. It works elsewhere and there is no reason why it can't work here as well."

Darling added that the Highways Agency is will now carry out further investigations into introducing car-sharing lanes on the M61 and M62.