Managed Motorways: A Change in Policy Equals a Reduction in Carbon.

There has been a significant shift in policy on how motorway capacity is to be increased in England. The successful implementation and operation ofa trial which dynamically utilizes the hard shoulder as a running lane during periods of congestion has led to this shift in Government policy. 546km of new hard shoulder running is expected to be implemented or be in construction by 2015. This paper focuses on the potential reduction in carbonfootprint resulting from this policy change, comparing the CO2 cost of implementing hard shoulder running against widening over the same length. Analysis has indicated that this alternative intervention could result in a reduction of 850,000 tons of carbon over a carriageway length of 546Km.