Drivers backing Highways Agency traffic officers

Highways Agency Traffic Officers in the North West have received a pat on the back from motorway users in a new customer satisfaction survey.

And latest performance figures also confirm that the North West has some of the best Traffic Officers anywhere in the country.

The Highways Agency Traffic Officer Service has been introduced in seven regions across England to keep drivers on the move along the country’s motorway network.

On road Traffic Officers patrol the network around the clock tackling anything which causes congestion or a danger to road users while colleagues in regional control rooms monitor motorway CCTV cameras for incidents, set warning signs, answer emergency telephone calls and dispatch Traffic Officers from outstations to incidents.

The North West Traffic Officer Service was launched in September 2005 and has consistently scored highly with customers and in performance targets. It is based at the North West Regional Control Centre at Newton-le-Willows while Traffic Officers patrol the motorway network from six outstations across the region.

In the Agency’s latest Customer Satisfaction Survey the region’s Traffic Officers are rated consistently highly by customers – putting them above the national average.

Although Highways Agency Traffic Officers are rated very highly right across the country, the figures show that Traffic Officers in the North West are rated best.

The work of control room traffic officers in answering emergency telephone calls are rated a maximum 5, 5, 5 and 4.5 in terms of the speed of answering calls, friendliness and reassurance, good advice and responding to customer needs – compared to the national average of 4.83, 4.75, 4.83 and 4.75 respectively.

Meanwhile, on road patrols scored 4.97, 4.97, 4.97, 5 and 4.91 for politeness and courtesy, being reassuring, having a good appearance, being professional and being knowledgeable – compared to 4.87, 4.89, 4.92, 4.89 and 4.96 nationally.

Overall, Traffic Officers in the North West were judged as very good or excellent by all respondents.

Meanwhile, the North West Traffic Officer Service’s own performance figures suggest customers’ satisfaction is well-founded.

On the busiest routes on road patrols are meant to arrive at 80% of incidents within 20 minutes and performance in the North West is now around 86%. Traffic Officers are asked to attend 95% of all incidents within 40 minutes - the figures for the North West consistently run at around 99%.

And control room Traffic Officers are equally efficient - answering around 96% of calls into the control room within 20 seconds, well above the 90% target.

Control room staff are also responsible for setting signals - with 90% of signals having to be set, changed or removed within three minutes of a request by colleagues or the police. The North West is consistently reaching 97%.

On road Traffic Officers and control room colleagues work together to clear incidents which cause congestion and consistently exceed an 80% target for clearing incidents from live lanes within 40 minutes – with figures reaching 92%.

Jamie Carr, Regional Operations Manager in charge of the North West Traffic Officer Service, said: “Highways Agency Traffic Officers right across England are performing well and playing a crucial role in keeping drivers on the move – but of course it is pleasing to have a response from customers and performance figures which suggest the North West Traffic Officer Service is among the best performing in the country.

“That said we are certainly not complacent and in a very busy, diverse and complicated region we are constantly looking at ways to improve the service and provide even safer and more reliable journeys for motorway users.”