Car pool lanes come to the UK
- Lanes for cars with two or more occupants
- 'Hot' lanes also being considered by DfT
- Fears car pool lanes could slow traffic
Californian-style car pool lanes are coming to the UK motorway network, and motorists could also pay to use less congested lanes in the future.
Widening work is due to begin on the M1 next week between the junction with the M25 (junction 6A) and the Luton exit (junction 10), and a car pool lane will be added at the same time.
The work is expected to take just over two years and, once completed, the extra lane will be reserved during peak hours for vehicles with one or more passengers on board. At the moment, the Highways Agency is yet to decide exactly how the new scheme will be enforced, or at what times it will operate.
The Department for Transport is also considering introducing pilot 'hot' lanes on the M6, for which drivers would have to pay.
The Government hopes that lanes will help reduce the rate of growth in congestion.
However, a recent study by Berkeley University in California suggests that the car pool lanes in California are underused, and that average journey times have actually increased as a result.
The study found that up to 2200 vehicles can travel at the speed limit along a motorway lane without experiencing congestion, but also found that car pool lanes can only support up to 1600 vehicles before progress is slowed.
Edmund King, director of the RAC Foundation, also expressed concerns about the experiment, suggesting that the varied destinations and departure points of many motorists would result in only limited scope for car sharing initiatives.
He also suggested that 'if the M1 experiment adds to congestion because of under-utilisation as experienced in the US, then the car pool lane should become a regular motorway lane.'
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