Transport User Voice – June 2021 – The freight and coach experience

27 May 2021

Just over half are satisfied with roads

What do freight and coach businesses think of England’s motorways and major ‘A’ roads? While more than half are happy with the roads around one in five are not.

The 2020-2021 Logistics and Coach Survey: Strategic Roads asked more than 1000 freight and coach vehicle managers how well Highways England’s roads meet their business needs.

We asked about the quality of advance and live information, accident response, road surface quality, rest facilities and Highways England’s management of the roads.

Satisfaction with clearing up after accidents and with rest stop facilities were rated lowest. Three in 10 rated the time it takes to reopen roads after an accident as good. Value for money of rest stops received the lowest individual rating, with around two thirds rating it as poor. Businesses also wanted roadworks to be completed in shorter stretches and more intense bursts.

Road safety came out on top with just under two thirds rating this positively.

Other key findings from the survey include:

• How Highways England manages the network has the biggest impact on overall satisfaction. This is specifically about journey time reliability, journey speeds, balancing carrying out roadworks with keeping traffic moving and understanding business needs.
• One in five think businesses like theirs matter in Highways England’s medium to long-term plans.
• Live travel information was rated better overall than advance route planning information.
• Two fifths of respondents rated road surface as poor. There was also concern from around three in 10 that road surface damages goods and impacts on passenger comfort.
• Some respondents raised concerns about the safety of smart motorways, including the time taken to display the red X and other drivers’ behaviour on these roads.

The Logistics and Coach Survey: Strategic Roads is one of the official measures used to monitor Highways England’s performance.

 

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