More than 20 councils have put forward plans to pilot a second phase of congestion cutting schemes. The Department for Transport (DfT) is currently considering applications from 22 local authorities keen to test various means of beating bad traffic. A DfT spokesman said: ‘The deadline was 31 July. ‘We are not revealing the names at this stage. But we will go through and look at the bids. We are not being prescriptive about the type of schemes.’ They are aimed at managing demand on the roads the same as the first round of bids.’ Road pricing and traffic lights on slipways to motorways are among possible methods to be mooted. The first phase of bids has already been narrowed down to seven potential pilot schemes in Greater Manchester, West Midlands, Shrewsbury, Tyne and Wear, Bristol, Durham and Cambridge. Decisions on these are set to be made next year.
