Ride quality initiatives to improve customer experience

National Highways (NH) are committed to continually improving the experience that our customers experience on the strategic road network. One priority targeted in Road Investment Strategy 2: 2020-2025 is a "maintenance approach that will focus on safety and surface condition to enhance the quality of journeys". This project is being commissioned to partly address the surface condition aspects and the ride quality that road users experience. Furthermore, it is anticipated that the progression to better ride quality will result in smoother pavement surfaces overall, and this presents a secondary, but equally important, opportunity related to National Highways' zero carbon plans . Smoother road pavements yielded through ride quality improvements should offer lower rolling resistance to transiting vehicles, and therefore reduce their fuel consumption (or increase the range of electric vehicles). This presents an opportunity to mitigate some of the 'road user emissions' that feature prominently in our carbon baseline, that need to reach net zero by 2050.