FTA concern over journey time reliability

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has queried recently released figures from Highways England showing that journey time reliability has marginally improved over the last year, claiming that its members have found reliability to be getting worse, not better.

“Our members’ perception does not match that suggested by the official figures,” said Malcolm Bingham, FTA head of road network management policy.

“The latest Highways England statistics show an improvement in journey reliability – but our own information indicates that this is not the case for the vast majority of our members, who tell us that they have consistently experienced a decrease in reliability over the past year.”

Highways England figures put the proportion of ‘on time’ journeys at 78.7 per cent in a twelve-month period ending March 2015 – a 0.6 per cent increase on the year ending March 2014.

An ‘on time’ journey is one completed within a reference period based on historical data from that section of road.

FTA says the measure is crucial for road freight operators in order to route and schedule journey accurately, thereby avoiding delivery delays. The association estimates that it costs a 44-tonne truck around £1 per minute to queue in traffic.

Added Bingham: “As the economy picks up, demand for freight inevitably will increase, putting additional pressure on already busy roads.  Add to this the disruption which will result from the – very welcome – roads improvements planned by Highways England and we have a very challenging situation.

“An efficient roads network is essential if the economy is to continue to grow – Highways England therefore must maintain focus on improving reliability and working with the freight industry to ensure improvements can be delivered with a minimum amount of impact on businesses.”