M62 - Your Local History
A lot of finds were uncovered during the archaeological evaluation carried out for the M62 Junction 6 Improvement scheme so we thought it would be nice to provide an interactive website so you can see what we found.
Better information for your journey
The National Traffic Control Centre collects real-time information on road conditions
Lane Hog!
John Stapleton looks into why people Lane Hog and what effects it has on the driver hogging the lane and other road users.
Educating tomorrow's drivers
See how we are driving through key messages about safety on our network for the drivers of tomorrow.
Meet the Ancestors
Find out about the history of roads and the work the Agency does to preserve archaeological remains.
See when traffic will be lightest
Our traffic forecaster can help get you there quicker
Background to the Campaigns
- Many people think they use their car too often
- Many people are concerned about traffic pollution
- Many people would like an alternative
- Many people would like.... a change
The Highways Agency is keen to work with local authorities and transport operators to develop campaigns to encourage a switch from road to rail. This leaflet summarises the lessons which have been learnt from three pilot campaigns promoted by the Highways Agency last year, both in terms of their effectiveness and also their planning and implementation. Working together on a campaign can bring added value to each organisation's efforts to achieve change. Reading this leaflet is a start . . .
Background to the Campaigns
The 'travel campaign' developed in the last decade by local authorities is already recognised as a valuable way of raising the public's awareness of alternatives to the car and challenging existing patterns of behaviour. Building on this experience, the Highways Agency recently developed a series of pilot projects as part of a longer term strategy to encourage travellers to consider use of other modes as an alternative to the car.
With ever rising traffic congestion and increasing concern over its effects on the environment, it is in everyone's interest to promote alternatives to the car. To some extent this is already happening, rail use is now at levels not reached since 1965 when the network was considerably bigger and car ownership was only a third of what it is today. New investment in faster, more frequent and reliable public transport services have played an important part in delivering this growth in rail travel (and will continue to do so) but ultimately increased rail use depends on individuals choosing to do something different - a change in behaviour.
The Pilot Studies
As well as being useful in terms of their impact on car use the campaigns, held during summer 1998, were also designed to provide experience of how to develop and improve the methods used in previous travel campaigns, and explore the difficulties and benefits of different transport organisations working together. This leaflet gives details of some of these wider results.
The pilots were conducted in three very different travel corridors, deliberately chosen to investigate the effectiveness of campaigns under different conditions and with different objectives.
Corridor 1 - the A12 from Chelmsford to London
An important commuter route where the main rail route to Ipswich closely parallels the trunk road . The campaign, run in partnership with First Great Eastern, encouraged a switch to rail at peak times.
Corridor 2 - the A47 from Norwich to Yarmouth
A route with potential to switch both leisure and commuter trips to the parallel rail and high quality bus routes using special ticketing offers promoted by the operators Anglia Railways and First Eastern National.
Corridor 3 - A696/A1, North West Tyneside to Newcastle
An urban corridor with potential to increase park & ride at two stations on the existing metro. The pilot study was conducted in partnership with Nexus.
