Skip to main content

Mayor’s lane rental scheme cuts roadwork disruption

A new study into London’s lane rental scheme shows that since its introduction the amount of serious and severe disruption caused by planned roadworks has been cut by 46 per cent on the capital’s busiest roads, reducing delays for all road users. The scheme, which came into effect in June 2012 on the busiest parts of London’s road network, is designed to encourage utility companies to avoid digging up the busiest roads at peak traffic times. Following the introduction of the scheme, around 90 per cent of
April 11, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
A new study into London’s lane rental scheme shows that since its introduction the amount of serious and severe disruption caused by planned roadworks has been cut by 46 per cent on the capital’s busiest roads, reducing delays for all road users.

The scheme, which came into effect in June 2012 on the busiest parts of London’s road network, is designed to encourage utility companies to avoid digging up the busiest roads at peak traffic times. Following the introduction of the scheme, around 90 per cent of utility works and 99 per cent of works carried out by 1466 Transport for London (TfL) in the lane rental areas have avoided disrupting these busy roads at peak times.

All surplus money raised through the lane rental scheme is reinvested into measures to further reduce the disruption, including: automatic roadwork monitoring cameras, allowing TfL to better determine whether work is taking place on worksites; automatic number plate recognition cameras and automatic traffic counters to capture the effects of a scheme to ensure that it continues to reduce disruption; further investigation into innovative ways of reducing disruption.

Isabel Dedring, Deputy Mayor for Transport, said: “We are delighted by the success of this scheme - which was both a First for London and the UK when it was introduced by the Mayor in 2012. It has already saved Londoners thousands of hours spent stuck in traffic and is set to save them many thousands more.”

Alan Bristow, Director of Road Space Management at TfL, said: “The introduction of the UK’s First lane rental scheme in London has already delivered significant benefits across the capital. By using this scheme to help fund more innovation and world-leading technologies, we can continue to reduce disruption and keep all road users on London’s road network moving.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Car-free zones part of London 'reimagining'
    May 18, 2020
    Parts of central London will become “one of the largest car-free zones in any capital city in the world”, according to the city’s mayor Sadiq Khan.
  • New river crossings vital for east London
    October 14, 2014
    With the capital’s population forecast to grow to 10 million people by 2030, and with much of this growth due to take place in east London, demand for crossing the river will increase. Unless new river crossings are provided in east London, the overall growth of this part of London will be affected and its economic potential will not be fully realised. The Silvertown tunnel is a key part of the plans and is now progressing to the next stage with a consultation that starts on 15 October on detailed propos
  • ITS instrumental in reducing Texan congestion
    September 4, 2018
    ITS projects in the Houston area have seen costs crunched – and even a system failure has proved valuable in analysing performance. David Crawford reports on developments in the Lone Star state Savings by Texan public agencies are major factors in the recent ITS Texas awards, recognising beneficial initiatives in bridge strike prevention and traffic intersection control. In the first, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)’s Houston District, covering the state’s most populous city and its surround
  • Technology advances improve enforcement
    July 26, 2012
    Across the board, technology is being brought to bear to improve the efficiency of enforcement. Bus lane monitoring, parking and controlled access have all benefited from systems introduced in recent months. While speed and red light infringements tend to attract the most attention, there remain several other areas of enforcement where automation can bring significant operational and efficiency benefits. Lane monitoring and access control also continue to benefit from technological development.