Better information for your journey
The National Traffic Control Centre collects real-time information on road conditions.
See when traffic will be lightest
Our traffic forecaster can help get you there quicker
- Corporate social responsibility
- Financial accountability
- Improving capability
- Working with our customers and stakeholders
- Reducing congestion and improving reliability
- Leadership and corporate governance
- Looking forward
- Excellence in delivery
- How we link with other parts of government
- Our aims, values and objectives
Who We Are and What We Do
Who we are....
The Highways Agency, established in 1994, is an executive agency of the Department for Transport. Our respective roles and responsibilities and the governance of the relationship are set out in a formal framework document.
We have a small corporate centre in London and eight locations across the country. We also have traffic officers working on motorways based in seven Regional Control Centres and 28 outstations.
Our Board includes our Chief Executive, seven executive directors who are responsible for managing delivery of the agency’s responsibilities, and three non-executive directors. Details can be found under Organisational structure.
... and what we do
We are responsible for the operation and stewardship of the strategic road network in England on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport. Our primary functions are to manage traffic, tackle congestion, provide information to road users and improve safety and journey time reliability, whilst respecting and minimising the adverse impact on the environment. Find out more about our formal aim, objectives and values.
Our road network, ranging from motorways to single carriageway trunk roads (the major A roads), is valued at over £81 billion. It carries a third of all road traffic in England and two thirds of all heavy freight traffic. The network provides a vital service to commerce and industry and to the lives of individuals and communities. View our network map.
We fulfil our role by working closely with our partners and contractors to deliver an efficient and sustainable network that meets the needs of all our customers. We have also forged strong links with other road administrations in Europe and around the world for the exchange of information, experiences and expertise. Through these links we are able to learn of innovative ideas across the world. We are also active participants in a range of high profile roads-related forums.
We put customers first in everything we do, listening to them, and gaining a better understanding of the way our network impacts on them. Through this understanding we are better placed to respond to their needs and expectations.
Our corporate plan Customers First, published in 2005, set out our vision for providing a continuously improving service to all our customers. This plan continues to focus our commitment to customers and to transform the ways in which we deliver services right across the agency. More detail can be found in the ‘Working with our customers and stakeholders’ section of our Annual Report.
