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Car-share lanes plan for M25
Andrew Clark Thursday March 31, 2005 The Guardian Britain's busiest motorway, the M25 to west London, is to get a "carpool lane" under congestion-busting proposals set out yesterday by the transport secretary, Alistair Darling. The eight-mile stretch of motorway, which carries 250,000 vehicles a day between the M3 and the M4, is being widened from eight to ten lanes under a two-year roadworks programme to finish in December. Mr Darling yesterday asked the Highways Agency to investigate dedicating the new lanes to cars carrying two or more passengers, to persuade commuters to share their cars. But the idea went down badly with motoring organisations, saying it would make congestion worse. Edmund King, director of the RAC Foundation, said "high occupancy lanes" only worked on short trips between concentrated residential areas and central districts, where people undertake identical journeys. "Most drivers on this section of motorway are travelling to different destinations so it would be almost impossible to car share." The AA Motoring Trust added that car pooling schemes required big, secure car parks which exist on the continent but not in Britain. The first motorway trial was scheduled for the M1 between St Albans and Luton in 2008. Further schemes are under consideration on the M61 outside Manchester and the M62 near Leeds. Motoring experts have questioned the willingness of British motorists to share, suggesting that drivers value their own space and have a "nimf" attitude towards strangers - "not in my front seat". Special reports Car industry in the UK Transport in the UK Oil and petrol Useful links Department for Transport Department for Transport road traffic figures 2001 Transport for London Street Management Street Works Motorists' Forum The AA International Road Federation Printable version | Send it to a friend | Save story  | |||||||||
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