Work has commenced on a pilot scheme to build the first dedicated car share lane on a UK motorway.

The 1.7mile High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane will link the southbound M606 near Bradford to the eastbound M62 towards Leeds allowing vehicles with more than one occupant to bypass single occupancy traffic.

Transport Minister Tom Harris said:

"This is a very busy stretch of motorway, but just one in five vehicles travelling between the M606 and M62 has more than one occupant. This new High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane will give drivers the opportunity to reduce their journey time and make more efficient use of the available road space by sharing their vehicle.

Although critics of such schemes argue that the government is opting for social over civil engineering, at £3.95 million the initiative comes cheap in comparison to the £21m per mile cost of widening the M1. This is because the HOV lane will use existing hard shoulders of the M606 and M62. A small stretch of carriageway and lay-by areas for broken-down vehicles will be the only areas of new build.

The new lane is expected to open in Spring 2008.