Transport User Voice – August 2018 – England’s best motorway services revealed

30 July 2018

Norton Canes (Roadchef) services on the M6 toll has been rated England’s best motorway services in our user survey.

For the second year running motorway service operators have performed well overall with 92 per cent of visitors happy with their visit, although value for money continues to be a key area for improvement.

As the summer holiday getaway got into full swing motorway service operators gathered at Roadchef’s Strensham South services on the M5 to launch our latest Motorway Services User Survey.

Motorway services play an important role in providing the break motorists need. Drivers tell us they feel less stressed and more awake after making a stop.

Motorway service operators now need to focus on ensuring customers see their experience as value for the money they’ve paid – that there is good range of food on offer and that buildings are maintained to a high standard.

Across the country continued investment by operators is making a real difference to driver experience when they stop at services. In last year’s survey Heston East (M4) was the lowest ranked site with 62 per cent satisfaction. This year it has seen a significant increase to 88per cent satisfaction.

The biggest improvement of any site this year was at Stafford South (M6) – which has gone from 70 per cent satisfaction in 2017 when it was ranked second lowest to 99 per cent, the second highest performer in 2018.

In this second annual survey we asked 9600 customers about their experience at 111 motorway services in England. Visitors had their say on facilities such as toilets, staffing, food and drink.

Overall, the survey found 92 per cent of customers were satisfied with their visit including:

• the friendliness of staff was rated good by 94 per cent of visitors
• 89 per cent of visitors were satisfied with the cleanliness of the toilets
• at 88 per cent, satisfaction rates among people who drive for a living showed the biggest year-on-year increase, but remains lowest across all driver groups
• 66 per cent of visitors thought the food or drink available to eat in the services was value for money
• 24 per cent of visitors said they arrived at the services in a tired, stressed or frustrated frame of mind; this was reduced to just 5 per cent when leaving to go back on the road. This highlights the beneficial impact that a good motorway services experience can have on driving standards and road safety.

The 2018 Motorway Services User Survey can be found here.

Highest ranked motorway services

1.    Norton Canes (M6 toll)

2.    Stafford Southbound (M6)

3.    Wetherby (A1 (M))

4.    Hilton Park Southbound (M6)

5.    Corley Southbound (M6)

6.    Tebay Southbound (M6)

7.    Pease Pottage (M23)

8.    Woodall Southbound (M1)

Joint 9th.    Killington Lake (M6)

Joint 9th. Tebay Northbound (M6)

Lowest ranked motorway services

111.    Thurrock* (M25)

110.    Toddington Southbound* (M1)

109.    Southwaite Northbound (M6)

108.    Newport Pagnell South (M1)

107.    Bridgwater (M5)

*services known to be undergoing refurbishment at the time of the survey.

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