I have a smart phone. It fits in with my lifestyle, it works, it does what I want it to, I trust it. I have a smart TV. It’s reliable, it works, it does what I want it to, I trust it. I have a smart watch. It’s reliable, it works, it does most of what I want it to, I trust it.
I use the smart motorway. It’s unreliable, it doesn’t work, it doesn’t do what I want it to, and it most definitely isn’t reliable, so I don’t trust it.
I picked up a short-term contract recently which involved commuting a substantial distance each day.
How substantial? Try 109 miles, each way, every day. Or just over 1000 miles a week.
If that wasn’t bad enough, it also involved the M1 and the M25. Yes, exactly, you see where this is going now!
Both motorways have sections that are “smart”. So that means the traffic is monitored and the speed limits are adjusted so that I can make the best use of my time. Because a motorway is primarily designed to allow us to travel from point A to point B in the quickest, safest and most efficient way possible.
The problem is unfortunately, very simple. It doesn’t. It’s not safe, it’s not efficient and it isn’t safe. I don’t trust the messages displayed so now I ignore them. Why? Because I have never seen the animals, they are warning me of, neither have I seen the oncoming car or the pedestrians. They slow the traffic to 40 if there’s a breakdown and close it all altogether if they’re bored.
The solution for me?
Avoid them both with a 15 mile detour, driving through two extra counties, to save about 45 minutes. The M40 is not smart, yet I make more progress, most of the time than the alternative.
So, what’s the difference between the two different routes?
One uses a Smart Motorway for the whole journey whereas the other only uses one for about 15 miles. One takes about 10-45 minutes longer than the other or longer if it’s closed, which it is about once a month. Then it’s almost an hour longer, depending on where it’s closed (usually around Luton).
So, driving a longer journey on a non-smart motorway saves me time and is usually within five minutes of the journey time the day before.
Ah, what if there’s an accident on that route? If it isn’t smart, it’ll take longer to get through, I hear you say?
No. Sorry, it doesn’t work like that. And I can prove it.
Something happened on the M1, and it’s closed. I didn’t see what happened and it added 60 minutes to my journey home. Using the M40 I passed a car across the carriageway with its front bumper in the centre reservation. Same time of the day yet everyone slowed to 50/60 as they drove past the stricken BMW 520.
Same thing on a return journey. I encounter a Toyota on its roof as the emergency services work their magic, yet it barely impacted my journey time by more than five minutes.
Let’s put this into perspective. Building a Smart Motorway cost millions of pounds, takes years to build/convert whilst slowing your progress down to 50 as you drive through the 15-20 miles of road works. When they open it, they reduce your speed to 40/50 for things you don’t see or encounter.
The end result is that your journey takes longer whilst they build it and rarely matches the travel time before they started.
Or they can save millions of pounds, thousands of cones and countless driving hours and leave it alone?