Millions of drivers will find parking more easily and enjoy more reliable, safer, and hassle-free journeys as the Government ensures sat-navs will always have the most accurate travel information.
On Monday 15th January, Roads Minister Guy Opperman unveiled the first package of measures from the Government’s Plan for Drivers, including making all Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) digital.
TROs are short term traffic measures such as temporary speed limits or road closures which, until now are not automatically updated on digital systems, meaning they are sometimes missing from satnav systems.
But the Government will now mandate that valuable data, such as the location of parking spaces, is available for satnavs and that drivers have the most accurate and up-to-date information to get from A to B safely, easily and with the peace of mind.
Roads Minister Guy Opperman said: “This Government is on the side of drivers, which is why we’re making travelling by road much easier. Everyone knows the frustrations of being sent down a closed road by your sat-nav, so by going digital with our traffic information, we’re making sure that drivers have the very latest travel information to rely on.
“This is part of our first package of measures from our Plan for Drivers to be set out tomorrow, coming after our record £8.3 billion investment to resurface local roads – the biggest ever increase in funding for local road improvements.”
Going forward, regulations will require traffic authorities to send their TROs to a new digital publication platform. The data will then be freely available online for anyone to use.
Digitising TROs will also be crucial for ensuring autonomous vehicles can rely on accurate and up-to-date information so that they can operate safely once they start driving on British roads. A clause that delivers this commitment is included in the Automated Vehicles Bill, currently in Parliament.
The new measures follow the biggest ever funding uplift for local road improvements, with £8.3 billion of redirected HS2 funding – enough to resurface over 5,000 miles of roads across England, as the Government continues to be on the side of drivers and improve journeys for more people, in more places, more quickly.
Every penny of the £19.8 billion committed to the Northern leg of HS2 will be reinvested in the North. Every penny of the £9.6 billion committed to the Midlands leg will be reinvested in the Midlands. The full £6.5 billion saved through our rescoped approach at Euston will be spread across every other region in the country.
Digitising TROs is part of a wider package of Plan for Drivers measures that the Government is delivering on, announced tomorrow. Minister Opperman will visit a highway depot in Kent on Monday to mark the announcement and meet with stakeholders.