Q51 Mr Curry: There is a big stretch of the A14 that has average speed cameras?
Mr Robertson: We also use them in particularly difficult areas like the A14. The experience is good. People are aware of how they have to behave when they come across average speed cameras and they are proving to be a very effective way to get people to slow down and stay at that speed once they are there. As a matter of interest, it is also one of the vital pieces of technology that depends on the National Roads Telecommunications Services in order for it to work properly.
Q52 Mr Curry: Are your cameras capable of detecting people using mobile phones in cars?
Mr Robertson: No.
Q53 Mr Curry: I am sure you are aware that this is the most widely broken law in the country.
Mr Robertson: I certainly observe it whenever I walk around town, so that is true, but our cameras are not capable of that and they are not designed for it. Our cameras are not used for enforcement. If we are asked by the police for information about a specific vehicle or incident we will provide it.
Q54 Mr Curry: You mean other than speed cameras specifically, that is, those that monitor traffic flow?
Mr Robertson: The speed cameras are operated by the speed camera partnerships of which the agency is a part. Obviously, that is there for enforcement. I think we have over 1,500 cameras in the network- CCTV and traffic detection-which are there for traffic management purposes only, not enforcement. The police have separate cameras which they use for enforcement, but I am not aware that they are using them for monitoring the illegal use of mobile phones.
Q55 Mr Curry: What is the experience on the continent of analogous systems and the information that they provide?
Mr Robertson: Are you talking generally about information?
Q56 Mr Curry: Yes. Quite often in these reports we are told how other people do it. I am thinking about the value of the information to the user rather than the economic benefit. The main argument in favour of this is presumably the economic benefit of traffic flowing at a more consistent pace and therefore using less fuel.
Mr Robertson: Certainly, tools like controlled motorway which you see round the M25 where we set the speed of the traffic at busy times in order to keep it travelling smoothly rather than stopping and starting are used elsewhere. As to active traffic management and the use of hard shoulders, that is employed on a very limited basis elsewhere. The signs that tell you how long it will take to get to the next junction are used elsewhere but we are the only place where it is done nationwide.
Q57 Mr Curry: Had I been coming down that road on Saturday afternoon I would have quite liked to know what was happening in the Manchester United v Wigan match. It does not divert my attention any more than a sign that says "Grantham 56 miles: 60 minutes", does it?
Mr Robertson: There cannot be many cars left in this country that do not have a radio.
Q58 Mr Curry: But sometimes motorists have with them their wives who are not very keen on football.
Mr Robertson: You have my sympathy.
Q59 Dr Pugh: Am I right in thinking that £345 million is the cost of the installation and maintenance of the project?
Mr Robertson: That was the basis on which it was done.
Mr Bradbrook: That is the cost of installation, maintenance and support and the whole life running of the network for the next 10½ years.
Q60 Dr Pugh: That was a lot more than you had originally estimated. Obviously, you had certain goals in mind apart from simply informing people about things they might like to know: you wished to improve traffic flows, make people travel more sensibly, take more appropriate routes and so on. You just mentioned the radio. I have a very impertinent radio that tells me, whether or not I want it, when I approach traffic obstructions. I have not found the switch to turn it off. Lots of other cars have that. There are lots of ways in which we can find out about traffic flows and so on. You have spent a lot of money to provide us with information and therefore in some sense it must be justified and there must be results we can see. What are the results that we can all see now?
Mr Robertson: If you look at table 19 on pages 36 to 39 you will see a list of some of the products that are enabled by the network. They are a combination of capabilities by which information in one form or another is provided.