For the third year running, Serco has commissioned FDS to survey the behaviour of motorway and trunk road drivers.

In 2001, Serco won a ten year contract to set-up, and manage the National Traffic Control Centre (NTCC) in Birmingham. The NTCC is the knowledge centre and communications hub that co-ordinates responses to events on the 4,818 miles/7,754 km of England’s strategic road network.

Liasing with Police Control Offices, Local Highways Agencies and Media networks, NTCC identifies both planned and unplanned events and disseminates traffic information to all the afore mentioned parties, and drivers. Drivers are warned of congestion using a variety of media, including:-

• Variable message Signs (VMS) – on the roadside
• Radio – NTCC feeding local and national stations
• The Highways Agency website www.trafficengland.co.uk.

With the kind permission of service station operators, FDS undertakes 500 face-to-face interviews a quarter with motorists at a spread of service stations in England.

We track how, if at all, motorists obtain travel information before and during their journey and how they then use that information, for example, taking a diversion, changing travel plans or simply by not travelling at all.

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