Millions of drivers will find parking more easily and enjoy more
reliable, safer, and hassle-free journeys as the Government
ensures satnavs will always have the most accurate travel
information.
Tomorrow (Monday 15 January), Roads Minister will unveil 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 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.
