Leading the way to improved journeys

The Highways Agency argues the case for Active Traffic Management to reduce congestion and improve journey time

The Active Traffic Management (ATM) Pilot, between Junction 3A and 7 of the M42, has proved to be a great success since going live in September 2006. This is the UK's first scheme to provide the facility to open the hard shoulder as an extra lane during busy periods or when an incident occurs on the motorway.
    
ATM has been proven to successfully reduce congestion and improve journey time reliability for road users. This has been achieved by combining innovative technologies and operational procedures to make best use of the existing road space and to optimise speed limits for traffic conditions.
    
Since opening, the M42 ATM Pilot has consistently delivered measurable benefits to the road users and this is supported by positive feedback from customers, operators and the emergency services.

ATM has resulted in smoother, more consistent traffic conditions. Variability of weekday journey times has reduced by 27 per cent, making journeys more reliable – one of the Highways Agency’s key aims, and critical to the business community.
    
Advanced incident detection and management also reduces the impact on traffic when incidents occur. The technology constantly provides up to date information, using 63 additional variable message signs to effectively manage traffic and inform road users.
    
ATM has improved the distribution of traffic between lanes, an indication of better utilisation of road space and there are fewer occurrences of stop-start conditions.
    
On average ATM benefits more than 130,000 motorists every day on the M42, and the overall consensus of road users is that they feel better informed. Nearly two thirds would like to see ATM used elsewhere on the network.

ATM is best considered as a ‘tool box’ of traffic management measures including comprehensive surveillance and traffic monitoring, incident detection, automated signalling and enforcement and informative signing.
    
Sensors in the road collect information to inform automatic systems and control centre operators of traffic conditions, enabling real time information and instructions to be displayed on overhead gantry signals and signs.
     
The control centre uses the latest technology to operate the road 24 hours a day, seven days a week. CCTV is used to keep operators informed of traffic conditions at all times so that they can provide a rapid and appropriate response to traffic incidents. Emergency telephones are provided at regular intervals in emergency refuge areas – a safer environment for broken down vehicles away from carriageway traffic.

The hard shoulder is opened only when needed to manage traffic demands during the morning and evening peak periods or when additional carriageway capacity is required, for example this could be to manage an incident.

In March this year Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly, published new plans to tackle congestion on the busiest motorways and give drivers greater choice over their journeys. A feasibility study into extending the successful pilot of hard shoulder running on the M42 identified around 800 lane kilometres of England's motorways that could benefit from using the hard shoulder as an extra lane.
     
The results of a Department for Transport feasibility study highlighted 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 identified 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.
     
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 now begins in earnest to identify proposals for specific stretches of the motorway network.