On one of the season's obligatory trips to visit relatives I had to pass over the M25 along the A3. At 11am the clockwise carriageway was crawling which set me to musing about the variable speed limit technology along that stretch of the motorway and why it sometimes appears not to be effective. (I think there's probably some relatively simple queuing theory work that would explain that little problem). Then a day or so later I chanced upon the Automotive Council's (didn't know there was such a thing - did you?) recent report on "Intelligent Mobility".
The report points out that the UK, ranking in the top 25 most wealthy nations, is the 8th most densely populated (population per sq mile) and 5th most congested (population per road mile). It posits the thought that we are heading for a congestion crisis but that the most proposed allevition measures are simply non-starters. On one side there is no space, time nor money for a massive infrastructure expansion. On the other wholesale modal shift just ain't going to happen. So it argues for a "third way" (don't you just hate that phase?) - which the authors term "Intelligent Mobility".
Much of the report is dedicated to a review of the current status and a look forward to pathways for development. For a lay person like me it's all interesting stuff. How disappointing then to find the report's recommendations saying little more than "we need to meet and discuss". (A bit cruel that - but a true reflection of my thoughts when I reached that point).
For anyone half interested in how we might manage our road infrastructure in the next couple of decades the data and pointers in this report are worth your perusal.
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