Calibration of smart motorways and comparison of two schemes

Smart Motorways (SM), previously known as Managed Motorways (MM) schemes are being steadily rolled out by the Highways Agency (HA) in England. Outwardly the SM schemes have significantly more infrastructure than a regular stretch of motorway. Although most people refer to the physical infrastructure when thinking or talking about SMs, the full benefits cannot be realised without careful set-up and tuning of each scheme. This set up and tuning is referred to as calibration and optimisation. SM schemes aim to reduce congestion, not worsen safety and reduce journey times. This paper describes how Smart Motorways work, how they are calibrated and the key expected benefits. It compares initial highlight results from two schemes (M62 J25-30 and M4/M5), drawing out similar characteristics of interest as well as differences between the two. Finally, current and potential future enhancements are described.