UK's first motorway car share lane opens in West Yorkshire
Thursday, 20 Mar 2008 14:18
The new motorway car share lane will improve traffic
The UK's first motorway car-share lane has opened in West Yorkshire.
The stretch of road links the southbound M606 form Bradford to the eastbound M62 towards Leeds.
The 1.7 mile lane cost £5.3 million and could be the first in a nationwide roll out, according to transport secretary Ruth Kelly.
Motorcycles and heavy good vehicles are not allowed in the new lane, only vehicles carrying two or more people.
The government claims it will save local commuters around half an hour to 40 minutes every week.
Ms Kelly said today: "This new lane offers motorists the opportunity to reduce both their journey times and their carbon footprints.
"Currently, four out of five vehicles using this busy junction have only one occupant. I hope this new lane will encourage people to share their journeys, which will ease congestion, cut journey times and improve local air quality.
"The government is committed to finding innovative ways to get more from our existing roads and improving journeys for motorists. We have identified around 500 miles of motorway as potential priority sites for new traffic management measures, which may also include more car-share lanes."
John Jarvis, Northern Way Transport project director, said he backed car sharing schemes.
"If we can encourage greater levels of car sharing through the provision of dedicated lanes at suitable locations it will help lock in the benefits of additional road capacity and be good for the economy and the environment," he said.