Value for money by scheme type
This dashboard shows:
- the number of schemes within each Value for Money (VfM) category
- how value for money varies by scheme type
Summary
There's variation in the performance of schemes, with 82% providing medium, high or very high VfM.
A typical scheme of most types provided high VfM, although in some cases this was less than forecast.
All Lane Running smart motorway schemes typically provided low VfM, while Dynamic Hard Shoulder schemes typically provided poor VfM.
Smart motorways are delivering much needed capacity, with improved sections accommodating more traffic than before. However, there has been lower traffic growth than we expected when we appraised these schemes. Fewer drivers are benefiting from smart motorway schemes than originally anticipated. Five-year POPEs show that traffic on some smart motorway sections isn't travelling as quickly as was forecast at appraisal. This means that these projects aren't demonstrating as high VfM as we expected at appraisal.
Smart motorway schemes were forecast to deliver a wide range of benefits over their 60-year appraisal period. Our evaluations show that there was a spread of performance across smart motorways, ranging from high to very poor for individual schemes. These higher rated schemes do represent a gain to the economy and benefits are expected to exceed implementation costs.
Some schemes were rated as poor or very poor VfM. This means that, although they offer benefits, these are unlikely to exceed the cost of implementation, given current evidence. We're continuing to assess ways to improve performance at these locations.
We'll continue to monitor smart motorway schemes in operation, enabling us to:
- track these schemes' benefits
- take further action if required to ensure they deliver an improved experience for our customers
