Transport User Voice July 2025 – Best and worst motorways rated

14 July 2025

Strategic Roads User Survey results 

In the latest annual survey by independent watchdog, Transport Focus, drivers have rated the M40 as the best road in the country according to more than 9000 road users.  

The Strategic Roads User Survey (SRUS) asks drivers about their last journey on a motorway or major ‘A’ road managed by National Highways. Overall, 69 per cent of road users were satisfised with their recent journey. This is down from 71 per cent last year as satisfaction across all seven National Highways regions also fell with the decline being attributed to miles of roadworks to install emergency areas on smart motorways. 

The M40, which runs between London and Birmingham, retains its place as the highest rated motorway with 75 per cent of drivers satisfied. Commenting on the M40 one driver said: “Nice and well-spaced service stations. Good road surface.” Another said: “Road surface was good, lighting was good, no road works or hold ups.” 

The annual survey, which began in 2018, also ranks the M1 at the bottom of the table after just 57 per cent of drivers said they were satisfied with their journey. In comparison, in last year’s survey overall satisfaction for drivers on the M1 was 69 per cent, however drivers have reported less satisfaction with every aspect of their journey including road surface and journey time. 

Impact of roadworks

Analysis of the data shows a key reason for the decline in overall satisfaction across England is the roadworks required to install more than 150 new emergency areas on smart motorways, as part of National Highways’ National Emergency Area Retrofit (NEAR) programme. National Highways completed the NEAR roadworks on time in March and there are promising early signs that satisfaction is recovering after completion of these safety improvements. While road users recognise this work was needed to install more places to safely stop in an emergency, the survey findings show they have felt the impact of the roadworks.

This insight is used to improve the customer experience for all road users, and as part of our focus on improving satisfaction we are putting an emphasis on the performance of the individual National Highways regions. The South West is rated as the best performing National Highways region with overall satisfaction at 75 per cent. The M25 remains the bottom of the rankings according to survey respondents with just 63 per cent overall satisfaction, down from 68 per cent in 2023/24.  

We are determined to have more impact for road users across the country and will work closely with National Highways to achieve this while the SRUS will continue to ask road users about their journeys. 

National Highways regions ranking – overall satisfaction (previous year) % 

1. South West 75 (76) 
2. North West – 71 (73) 
3. East – 69 (71) 
4. Yorkshire and North East – 66 (71) 
5. Midlands – 66 (70) 
6. South East – 66 (70) 
7. M25 region – 63 (68) 

Key findings 

• Overall, 69 per cent of road users were satisfied with their journey, a significant drop from 71 per cent last year.   

• Only 55 per cent of lorry drivers were satisfied with their journey making them the least satisfied of all road users. 

• Regionally from the seven National Highways regions it was the South West that was the highest rated with an overall user satisfaction score of 75 per cent. The M25 region is lowest at 63 per cent.