Transport Insights

Highways News has, quite rightly, published a response from National Highways on the issue of the suppressed evaluation reports on smart motorways, and it’s one that subtly makes the case for them to be released.

Last week, I attended an event at the Department for Transport (DfT), which I have revealed to be sitting on a large number of Post Opening Project Evaluation (POPE) reports on smart motorways, which would reveal their record on issues such as safety, value for money and environmental impact.

The response from National Highways is I think, pretty much what it told me, but very revealing:

Safety is our number one priority, and we’re doing everything in our control to reduce deaths and serious injuries on our network. Our latest analysis continues to show that overall, smart motorways remain our safest roads.

We have provided the Department for Transport with the smart motorway Post Opening Project Evaluation (POPE) reports. These are multiple detailed evaluations of scheme performance and DfT is now in the process of undertaking its final review. Schemes will be confirmed in due course.

The first point to pick up on is the assertion that “overall, smart motorways remain our safest roads”, which of course lumps “controlled motorway” schemes with technology and a hard shoulder in with those with just the inadequate technology.

The “overall” also conceals the worrying increase in danger for stopped vehicles and – crucially – suggests one reason that the DfT is hiding the POPE reports: if you look at individual stretches of motorway, there are likely to be some that are a lot less safe than the average.

This is also the point made about “multiple detailed evaluations of scheme performance”. There are a lot of reports and a lot of data within them.

One possible trend that I have detected in previous POPE reports is that some of the all lane running schemes that initially benefited in safety terms from vehicles being more spaced out have become less safe as they got busier.

“Overall” means lumping new schemes in with older ones to dilute this effect, which is only going to get worse.