Highways Agency

• Area 9

Area 9: Our Customers

We are delighted that our customers in Area 9 are beginning to really make use of internet based information.  We list below a number of sources available – together with a short explanation of the service.

Traffic England - for incident awareness.

Highways Agency RSS feeds - for real-time information directly to your desktop.

Transport Direct - for comparisons of road, rail and bus routes and costs for the same journey.

Highways Agency Internet Radio - This is currently a trial website, but if the trial is successful then it is hoped it will be available on FM in the future.

Additional services for major traffic generators:

Atlas Pro - you can request a password and receive real-time information, but in more detail. 

A one-to-one consultancy service run by the Agency’s National Traffic Control Centre is available to help you build the information system you need within your own organization. For more information please contact the HAIL line on 08457 504030 quoting “Project Outreach”.

A number of Stakeholder Roadshows are being held around the country in 2007 to explain the above services in more detail for major traffic generating organizations. For more information please call the HAIL Line as above.

Area Road Users’ Satisfaction Surveys

We are listening to our customers and carry out a survey targeting the people living near the roads in our Area on a rolling 6-monthly basis with the result.

We are interested to understand if our customers feel that they are well informed and also whether they feel safe when travelling on the network.

A sample of 66 people is interviewed each month, based on how close they live to our network and the customer type. 

Results for November 07 – May 08

We have just completed our fourth Area Road Users’ Satisfaction Survey and the results have been consistently similar to the first three.  The target audience is new to the survey and therefore have no further insight into the work of the Highways Agency than other previous sample audiences. Here are the key issues, drawn from the 3 surveys conducted over the last 18 months:

• People feel marginally safer on our roads and motorways
• The road surfaces have been classed as “generally good”
• The roads have become clearer of debris, rubbish and litter
• There has been slightly more congestion than average in our area.

Where statistics have changed we have highlighted the information received with statistics from the previous survey in brackets next to the new figures.

Awareness

These questions were posed to see if people know who the Agency are and what they do:

We were pleased to learn that nearly 75% of those interviewed were aware of the Highways Agency by the means shown in the graph – a figure that has not changed in the last 6-month period.  This quarter’s results revealed slightly less people are aware that the Highways Agency also looks after trunk roads. This is most probably due to recent detrunking of some of the A roads that were previously under our control.  These have reverted to the local authority.

• We look after all the motorways and many of the major “A” roads in the region – see map referred to in first paragraph.

Safety

These questions were to find out whether people feel safe on our roads.  66% (77%) of people said that they feel safe on our roads, however 45% of those who felt unsafe said it was due to other people’s driving. Road conditions: Quality of the road surface 80% (70%) said that the road surface was generally good.  However it is clear that all areas of concrete surface were pinpointed as being noisy.

• Where a concrete surface is in need of repair – this will be resurfaced with quiet material. 

21 miles of motorway around Birmingham are carried on viaducts.  Joints at the end of each section of viaduct result in slight “bumps” in the carriageway surface.

Maintenance: Grass cutting / Vegetation

95% of respondents thought that the grass was cut short to an even length and that the vegetation was not overgrown.

• Wide areas of grassland may appear unmanaged however programmed cutting, over a period years, is undertaken to ensure the balance between the unsightly and unmanaged, and biodiversity. Grassland is a wonderful habitat for many species, including small mammals, reptiles, birds and insects. It also provides a rich tapestry of wildflowers including orchid, oxeye daisy and campion.

Cleanliness of the network: Debris, rubbish and litter

83% (65%) of those interviewed had not noticed any debris or litter, however the remaining 17% commented on the litter on four (three) of our roads.

We will ensure our crews and litter pickers are aware of all the areas mentioned as we pride ourselves on keeping our network as free from litter as possible.

• Debris and rubbish is our description of discarded items causing a danger to the road e.g. things falling off goods vehicles, tyre debris, dead animals.  These items are picked up from the roads by our Incident Support Units.
• Litter is slightly different in that it is, in the main, thrown out of vehicle windows.

We would welcome the help of all travelling on our network by ensuring that debris, rubbish and litter is not thrown onto the carriageway but taken home.

Road Signs

93% (82%) of respondents thought there were enough permanent road signs although 5% (8%) found the ordering of the road signs confusing.

• Signs must, by the Highways Agency Code of Practice, appear at set distances away from roadworks and as agreed by the Highways Agency and Police.

Roadside Advertising

62% of the people interviewed had seen these roadside advertisements and had no comment on them – about a third found them distracting.

• The Agency has no legislative powers to stop people advertising on private land as this is covered by local authority planning regulations.   However, we can object to Local Authorities on safety grounds and this follows a set legal process.

Congestion

85% (84%) of interviewees had experienced congestion.

• We continually monitor congestion looking at ways to reduce the delays.  Sometimes relatively minor changes e.g. repositioning the white lines at a junction, or traffic lights at a roundabout can have a dramatic effect. 
• In the main, however, congestion is caused by incidents on the network causing tailbacks and delays.

Travel Time Variable Message Signs

82% of respondents thought that TTVMS would be very useful and 59% had seen this in Area 9.  Most concluded that this had given them assurance about their journey time.

Delay Time Variable Message Signs

87% of respondents thought this would be very useful and 51% said the messages had alerted them to congestion.

Active Traffic Management

80% of respondents had travelled through Active Traffic Management. A third felt it improved traffic flows, a third noticed no difference while 20% felt it slowed driving and resulted in more congestion.

Local Event Congestion Warning

30% of respondents had seen variable message signs warning them of local flooding although.

• We are increasing the use of these signs in Area 9 to help our customers choose the best routes for their journeys.  We also have a number of mobile VMS signs we use at roadworks or major incidents to assist you in making journey decisions.

Road Closures

Three quarters of the people interviewed indicated that they would like to see the roadworks carried out over night and understood that the roadworks would remain on the carriageway for a longer period.

• Whilst we try to carry out most of our work at night, particularly on the motorways, it is not always possible to take the decision.  We continually balance congestion reduction and roadworker and road user safety in our decision-making.

It is more dangerous for our workforce to work on high-speed motorways at night than during the day.  Please drive with extra caution at night.

Driving Through Roadworks

It was pleasing to learn that 76% (83%) of respondents said their driving changed when travelling though roadworks, reducing speed or in general being more cautious.

There has been little change in the last 18 months regarding driver awareness but a current “Respect our Workers” campaign should start to make a difference.

• Ultimately, drivers are responsible for driving safely through roadworks.
• The Police and the Highways Agency agree the correct speed limit through road works and it is the responsibility of the Police to ensure drivers do not break this limit.  The Highways Agency has no power in this respect.

Whilst some layouts and speed limits contribute to safety through roadworks we urge all drivers to play their part when driving through them.