The Highways Agency has developed a new sophisticated computer network to deal with congestion across the UK but has failed to install the system to cover the UK's busiest motorways, according to official auditors.
The National Audit Office report says that the agency has installed the Motorway Incident Detection and Automated Signalling (MIDAS) system to cover stretches of the M1, the M6 and "major conurbations" in the North and Midlands. But many of the most congested motorways in the south-east, such as the M25 where traffic volumes exceed 120,000 vehicles per day, are still lacking the technology.
According to the report, issued on 26 November 2004, the agency has not installed the technology due to "uncertainty" over the future development of the motorways.
Another key area of the agency's work is the newly constructed National Traffic Control Centre. While the agency managed to set up a £160m centre five months ahead of schedule it will be delayed in going fully operational, says the report, and should be open in July 2005 instead of December 2004.
The report says that the agency needs to catch up with its European counterparts in how it uses technology.
"The Highways Agency has been too cautious in introducing or testing out measures more readily used abroad, and is behind some of its overseas counterparts in adopting technologies to tackle congestion," it says. "The agency has managed its trials of some measures poorly and has not installed the most appropriate technology on the most congested motorways."
Sir John Bourn, the head of the National Audit Office, praised the agency's efforts to improve its information management but said more work is still needed.
"Road traffic congestion on our motorways and trunk roads is an enduring problem," he said. "I welcome the Highways Agency's efforts to attack the problem by making better use of our existing roads. In particular, it is aiming to improve roadside information to motorists and to deal more effectively with incidents and accidents.
"I am looking, however, for the agency to adopt a less risk averse approach. It must not only carry out more effective trials of proposed congestion-reducing measures; but also, if the trials are successful, follow the lead of its overseas counterparts in implementing these technologies more widely on the network."
