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Motoristswould not use "Lexus lanes" according to AA poll

Oppositionto Congestion Charge grows in the North West

Trafficdown 12% on M6 (toll)

Isit the end of the road for road pricing? Two thirds of motorists say that theywould not use proposed high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, according to experts theAA - addressing The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) seminaron road pricing today.

Thenew survey¹ showed 65% of 7,380 AA Populus panel members said theywould not use HOT lanes. Conversely 28% said they would use the lanes onoccasions and 3% said they would use them all the time.

Raisedspeed limit

Evenif they had the option to use the lane when in a hurry and the speed limit wasraised to 80mph, only 35% would but 51% would still not use it out ofprinciple.

Theselanes, in which car sharers go free or those alone pay a small toll, wereproposed by former Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly when she published Roads?'Delivering Choice and Reliability' in July². The Government andnew Transport Secretary, Geoffrey Hoon are looking at taking these plansforward.

InApril 2008 AA Populus panel members were asked whether they supported theprinciple of HOT lanes and 58% were opposed (17,400 responses April 2008). Thislatest research was carried out to explore in more detail motorists' attitudesto HOT lanes.

Regionalvariation

Driversin London and those in the North West said they were most likely to use theselanes (37% and 34% respectively) whilst those in Yorkshire and Humberside wereleast likely to (25%).

In ahurry

Panelmembers were also asked if they would pay to use a HOT lane when in a hurry andif the speed limit was set at 80mph rather than 70mph - panel members werestill reluctant with only 35% saying that they would use them. Those inthe18-34 age category (45%) and drivers in London (57%) were most likely to saythey would use the lanes in these circumstances.

Safetyconcerns

Theproposal for having a higher speed limit in a HOT lane is not a firm one fromthe government but AA Populus panel members were in no doubt that therewould-be some safety concerns with 64% either somewhat (21%) or strongly (43%)agree that this sounded like a dangerous idea.

AAcomment

EdmundKing, AA President said: "We were aware of motorists' general oppositionto national road pricing but thought they might be more supportive of paying touse dedicated lanes if they had a choice. The poll indicates that drivers havelittle appetite to pay to use HOT lanes to avoid congestion even with thepossible trade-off of a 10mph higher speed limit.

"Dedicatedlanes on motorways will do little to ease congestion if drivers don't buy intothe idea, so the Government should think carefully before making miles ofmotorway no go areas for the majority of drivers. We cannot afford to wastecapacity in the belief that drivers will either car share or pay. We areproposing to government that they should set up a small pilot project to assesssuch a scheme before going headlong into something that might prove to be awhite elephant."

Todayis also the fifth anniversary of the M6 Toll but traffic flows between July andSeptember are down 12% on the same period last year.

Oppositionto congestion charging in the North West also seems to be growing as ourlatestresults¹ show that 77% of are opposed compared to 72% back in April.

Thewestern extension of the London Congestion charge zone is also to be scrapped.All these trends seem to suggest that it might be the end of the road for roadpricing.

Morehard-shoulder running

TheDFT recently announced "The acceleration of work to make better use ofourmotorways, following detailed examination earlier this year intothefeasibility of introducing hard-shoulder running on around 500 lane milesofBritain's motorways. In the New Year we will announce on which motorways weareable to open the hard-shoulder to traffic".

HOTlanes were dubbed "Lexus lanes" in the USA as it was thought thatonly wealthier drivers would use them. Research on usage actually shows thatthe lanes are used by a cross section of the population.

Factfile

Thelatest survey (conducted 21-28 Nov of 7,380 AA members) shows that 77% of AAmembers in the North West are now opposed to congestion charging.

Question: Before localcharging schemes are introduced some people say that there should be a localreferendum to decide on such a scheme. If you were asked to vote on roadpricing in your local area would you support or oppose road pricing?

Driversin NW

60% were strongly opposed

17% somewhat opposed

6% strongly support

11% somewhat support

4% neither support nor oppose

2% didn't know

²Ruth Kelly said?Allowing motorists to enter a reserved lane if they are carrying passengers orwilling to pay a toll gives them a real choice without having to change theirroute. More capacity comes on line, but instead of immediately filling up, wecan manage demand over time, adapting to circumstances, maintaining trafficflow, and improving the reliability of motorway travel."

Otherquestions and national responses

Question: If a new lane wasadded to a motorway that was reserved for car sharers (i.e. driver + passenger)to use for free, or for lone drivers prepared to pay a possible small charge ofbetween 30p and ?1 per mile, would you consider paying to use it?

Yeswould use it all the time 3%

Yes would use it sometimes 28%

No I would not use it out of principle 34%

No I would never use it because I would not want to pay 31%

don't know 5%

Question:Ifthe pay lane mentioned in the previous question allowed lone drivers or thosesharing cars to travel at a higher speed than the rest of the motorway with alimit of approximately 80mph, to what extent do you agree or disagree with eachof the following statements?

Iwould pay to use this lane if I was in a rush:

Don?tknow 2%

strongly agree 12%

somewhat agree 23%

neither agree nor disagree 12%

somewhat disagree 15%

strongly disagree 36%

Iwould pay to use this lane even if I wasn't in a rush:

Don?tknow 2%

strongly agree 3%

somewhat agree 9%

neither agree nor disagree 12%

somewhat disagree 19%

strongly disagree 56%

Havinga higher speed limit sounds like a dangerous idea:

Don?tknow 1%

strongly agree 43%

somewhat agree 21%

neither agree nor disagree 11%

somewhat disagree 10%

strongly disagree 14%

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