Assessing the impact of National Highways' Smart Motorways educational campaigns

Descriptions

ORR independently monitors National Highways' management of the Strategic Road Network (SRN) - motorways and main A roads in England. We hold National Highways to account for: •how it plans and delivers its Road Investment Strategy (RIS); •its performance, including efficiency, safety and sustainability, for the benefit of road users and the public; and •compliance with its licence. This is set out as part of our statutory role and requirements under the Infrastructure Act 2015. However, over the last two years, due to increasing concerns from a range of stakeholders over the safety of Smart Motorways, ORR has been called on to provide independent assurance and monitor specific areas of National Highways' delivery in relation to the safety of Smart Motorways. This includes holding National Highways' to account for delivery of the milestones and actions within DfT's Smart Motorway Safety Evidence Stocktake and Action Plan Alongside this, following increasing concerns over the safety of Smart Motorways, the Transport Select Committee (TSC) launched an inquiry into the rollout and safety of Smart Motorways. In November 2021, the TSC published its findings report which included nine recommendations for Government. The Department for Transport (DfT) has responded to the TSC's report and agreed to take forward all nine recommendations. Within this report, there were three recommendations that specifically referenced ORR. These were: Recommendation 1: The Department should make the introduction of changes to the design and operation of the Strategic Road Network depend on a formal health and safety assessment by the Office of Rail and Road Recommendation 4: The Department and National Highways should commission the Office of Rail and Road to conduct an independent evaluation of the effectiveness and operation of stopped vehicle detection technology, including maintenance and monitoring. Recommendation 6: Beginning in September 2022, the Office of Rail and Road should be tasked with evaluating how successful the action plan has been in; a) reducing incidences of live lane breakdowns on all-lane running motorways; b) reducing the time for which people who breakdown or stop in a live lane are at risk; and c) educating drivers on what to do if they breakdown in a live lane ORR is seeking independent resources and expertise to support delivery of recommendation 6, part c), and assess the impact of National Highways' Smart Motorways education campaigns. Objectives ORR is seeking: 1)validation of National Highways current evaluation framework, including the existing processes and governance in place to evaluate its education campaigns that can be applicable to smart motorways; and 2)a proposed methodology for assessing the on-road behavioural impact of National Highways' education campaigns that can be applied to smart motorways