Hard shoulder running may be introduced across the country, following a successful scheme on the M42, the transport secretary has said. The M42 trial saw northbound average journey times fall by 26%, and drivers’ ability to predict their weekday journey times improve by 27%. In addition, vehicle emissions fell by up to 10%. The scheme will now be extended to improve the M6 around Birmingham and the M6 Toll, at a cost of £150M, scheduled for completion by summer 2011. Ruth Kelly said a feasibility study would be undertaken to consider whether similar schemes could be introduced on other parts of the motorway network. ‘The M42 trial shows that using innovative thinking to help drivers beat motorway jams really works,’ she said. ‘New traffic-management techniques, such as hard shoulder running and varying speed limits, offer practical and cost-effective solutions to cutting congestion, and I now want to explore whether other motorways could benefit from similarly-creative measures.’ A government discussion document released this week says the motorway network must be fully exploited – through active traffic management programmes including hard shoulder running – before investment in new infrastructure. However, it adds: ‘We do need targeted increase in capacity.’ The document, Towards a sustainable transport system: Supporting economic growth in a low carbon world, sets out the Government’s approach to transport policy in light of the Eddington Study and the Stern Review. It says local schemes, such as urban congestion charging, will take priority in achieving a sustainable transport system, and emphasises the importance of devolving transport powers to local authorities and sub-regional groups ‘to deliver the step-change that is needed in our congested urban areas’. However, the Campaign for Better Transport, formerly Transport 2000, called for less talk and more action. ‘Nice words, but the time for words is past,’ said Stephen Joseph, the group’s executive director. ‘These ideas must translate into real-world improvements, and right now, it’s not clear how they will.’