UK lane rental schemes set to go nationwide to help reduce congestion

UK lane rental schemes, where utility companies can be charged up to £2,500 ($3,499) each day for digging up the busiest roads at peak times, can be adopted by councils as part of a government approved strategy to help reduce congestion. The announcement follows successful trials conducted in London and Kent. This scheme aims to incentivise firms to work on quieter roads or outside of rush hour as well as collaborate with other companies to prevent roads from being dug up multiple times. Around 2.5 mi
February 20, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
UK lane rental schemes, where utility companies can be charged up to £2,500 ($3,499) each day for digging up the busiest roads at peak times, can be adopted by councils as part of a government approved strategy to help reduce congestion. The announcement follows successful trials conducted in London and Kent.


This scheme aims to incentivise firms to work on quieter roads or outside of rush hour as well as collaborate with other companies to prevent roads from being dug up multiple times.

Around 2.5 million roadworks are carried out each year, costing the economy £4bn ($5.5bn) in increased costs to businesses through late employees or deliveries.

The 1837 Department for Transport will provide guidance in the autumn to help councils develop lane rental schemes for approval. Initial schemes could start by the end of 2019.

Jo Johnson, transport minister, said: “Drivers often see red when roadworks cause them delays, especially if no one is working on them. Lane rental has seen a massive drop in disruption to drivers as utility companies have changed when and where they carry out work. Now we want millions of motorists around England to get the same benefits.

“The Department for Transport carried out a consultation into the scheme last year, and the majority of those responding supported its rollout nationwide. Many said they wanted to take advantage of the ‘clear benefits’ of lane rental schemes.”

Mike Cherry, Federation of Small Businesses, national chairman, responding to the announcement, said: “Congestion on roads is an ongoing and frustrating concern for those that run and work for small businesses and their customers.

"Our own research shows 45% of small firms identify congestion on local roads as their top transport concern, while 31% said frequent roadworks are a major issue affecting their business, in particular the length of time taken to complete the work.

“Getting stuck in traffic costs valuable time and money, so a plan that cuts down on this is a welcome one.”

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Why New York MTA needs $12bn – now!
    September 23, 2020
    Memo to US government: Public transit has been put under severe strain by Covid-19 – and New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is sounding the alarm
    Read More
  • Value of time – the key decider
    March 4, 2014
    The ‘value of time’ concept can be a vital decider in prioritising transport projects, as Lorenzo Casullo and Serbjeet Kohli of Steer Davies Gleave explain. How much do travellers value their time and how much would they be willing to pay for a better and faster transport option? For many years Steer Davies Gleave (SDG) has been collecting this type of information from thousands of people across the world as it researches travellers’ behaviour. And given the importance of this parameter for transport mo
    Read More
  • Dutch strike public/private balance to introduce C-ITS services
    November 15, 2017
    Connected-ITS applications are due to appear on a nation-wide scale this summer, through the Netherlands’ Talking Traffic Partnership – if all goes to plan. Jon Masters reports. The Netherlands’ Talking Traffic Partnership (TTP) looks almost too good to be true: an artificial market set up and supported by national, regional and local government to accelerate deployment of Connected ITS (C-ITS) applications. If it does have any serious flaws, these are going to become apparent quite soon, because the first
    Read More
  • Florida's high occupancy tolling success in reducing congestion
    July 18, 2012
    TransCore's David Sparks writes about the development of 95 Express, Florida Department of Transportation's new high-occupancy tolling facility. High-Occupancy Tolling (HOT) lanes are one of the most compelling uses of existing transportation infrastructure to expand capacity, particularly in major metropolitan areas which have limited right of way but need to relieve congestion. According to the Federal Highway Administration, while vehicle miles travelled have increased over 70 per cent in the past 20 yea
    Read More

Highlighted Content