Industry News from Yes Insurance

The UK's first motorway car share lane has been opened in Yorkshire.

Unveiled today (March 20th), the lane links the southbound M606 near Bradford and the eastbound M62 towards Leeds and measures about 1.7 miles long.

Cars, vans and taxis with two or more occupants will be eligible to use the new lane, enabling them to skip other lanes that are more likely to be congested and obtain priority entry to the eastbound M62.

It is hoped that the lane will help to reduce journey times significantly for many motorists, with regular commuters potentially able to shave up to 40 minutes a week off their travelling time.

"If we can encourage greater levels of car sharing through the provision of dedicated lanes at suitable locations it will help lock in the benefits of additional road capacity and be good for the economy and the environment," commented John Jarvis, project director at the Northern Way economic development partnership, which funded the scheme.

Earlier this month, transport minister Rosie Winterton called for greater use of technology to help cut carbon emission from vehicles in the UK.