Bradford commuters are reaping the rewards of an innovative scheme to cut traffic congestion.

The first major survey carried out on the A647 Stanningley Road High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane has shown that the scheme has cut journey times and promoted car sharing.

The road is the busiest route into Leeds and heavily used by Bradford commuters working in Leeds.

The scheme, the first of its kind in Britain, operates a lane of traffic which can only be used by cars with more than one occupant, buses and motorcycles.

The survey, carried out between June and September found that 58 per cent of the 102 motorists interviewed said the lane had been beneficial to them.

Journey times for HOV travellers over the 1.5km stretch of road had been cut by about two and a half minutes.

And survey results also showed that 26 per cent of the commuters had formed a new car-pool because of the lane and 13 per cent had previously been single-occupant drivers.

Councillor Eamonn McGee, chairman of Leeds City Council's highways and transportation committee, said: "These are the first solid results on the operation of the lane during its trial period and they are very encouraging.

"The lane has encouraged people to car-share or take buses by improving their journey times."

Traffic on the A647 during morning peak period has now been reduced by 10 per cent.

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