Transport for London works with GeoPlace to reduce traffic congestion

Road congestion is a major issue for London's transport system, causing significant frustration for road users and affecting Londoners' quality of Life. With around half a million holes dug in London's roads every year, it is not surprising that roadworks account for about a third of the Capital's most serious traffic disruption.
It is estimated that disruption from roadworks costs the Capital's economy around £750 million a year. Around £300 million of this is on London's busiest roads - the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN) or Red Routes - which, although only comprising around 5% of London's road network, carry over 30% of the traffic.
The vast majority of roadworks disruption on the TLRN is in fact concentrated on around half of its length. It is in these areas - identified as Congestion Management Areas (CMAs) - that TfL is keen to target additional measures and stronger incentives to deliver a real change in the industry so that works are planned and undertaken more efficiently.
Following approval from the Department of Transport, from 11th June 2012, TfL will operate a Lane Rental Scheme giving notice to works promoters and stakeholders of its intention to operate the Scheme. The introduction of a targeted 'lane rental' scheme will allow TfL to charge companies a daily fee for digging up London's busiest roads at the busiest times and will help incentivise more efficient working practices.
The scheme aims to minimise the amount of time that works disrupt traffic, either by ensuring works are carried out as speedily as possible, or by ensuring that more works are carried out outside of peak traffic hours and that roads are fully open at the busiest times. In the areas where lane rental charges apply, the proposed scheme will provide adequate time for works to be carried out without charge, therefore minimising the opportunity for costs to be passed onto the consumer.
Details about which streets are affected by the Lane Rental Scheme is available from the National Street Gazetteer (NSG) website which is maintained and hosted by GeoPlace. The NSG is a national compilation of street information supplied directly from individual local authorities in England and Wales. It gives a definitive list of streets and primarily allows local authorities to manage all street works carried out by themselves and by statutory undertakers in and efficient manner on their network. The main aim of this is to reduce congestion and minimise any impact on the public.
Details on the TfL Lane Rental Scheme have been included in the TfL ASD file which can be downloaded from the NSG website, this incorporates the locations subject to Lane Rental charges as special designations.
Additional GIS files to support the Lane Rental Scheme and ASD data can be downloaded from the NSG Download Matrix. This data has been provided in both MapInfo *.tab and ESRI *.shp format.
In addition, a complete set of the following Lane Rental documents may be downloaded from TfL's external facing website (www.TfL.gov.uk) or the One Road Network website (www.oneroadnetwork.org):

• Scheme Document
• Schedule of Lane Rental Locations
• Individual borough maps in PDF format
• GIS files in TAB and ESRI format that can be uploaded into GIS systems.

A mapping layer is also available through the LondonWorks Central Register.
Please contact Mariana Kaminski (Network Solutions Analyst) from TfL should you have any queries with the Lane Rental reference data. [email protected]