On United Kingdom roads, the term red route may refer to a stretch of road with painted red lines signifying that vehicles cannot stop there, or to a road which has historically high accident rates.

Painted lines

Red routes are major roads with red lines at the sides showing where vehicles are not allowed to stop. The prohibition extends to stopping for loading or unloading, and to boarding or alighting from a vehicle (except for licensed taxis and the holders of blue badges).^[1] Red routes are mainly used on major bus and commuting routes.^[2]

Red routes are marked by red lines on the sides of the road. Double red lines mean that the rules and regulations apply at all times and on all days. Single red lines means that the prohibition applies during times displayed on nearby signs or at the entry to the zone.^[1] Red route clearways are signed but there are no lines on the road. Stopping is only permitted in lay-bys (red lines are only marked at junctions).^[3]

The lines were first introduced in London in 1991,^[4] and have also been applied in the county of West Midlands since 2003^[5] and Leeds since 2019.^[6] A similar scheme operates in Edinburgh; here, however, the routes affected (where marked by the use of green road-surfacing rather than red lines – usually on outer bus lanes on major bus routes) are known as greenways. Away from bus routes, conventional red lines are used.

The 390 miles of red routes in London are policed by "Red Route Patrols" and managed by London Streets, an arm of Transport for London.^[7]

A number of hospitals in the United Kingdom have mimicked the red road lines, in and around ambulance dispatch and Accident and Emergency areas. These road markings are to allow ambulances and other emergency vehicles uninhibited access in and out of such areas; whilst these road markings are often respected by road users there is very little (if any) enforcement.

History

The Red Routes scheme was developed by the Department for Transport following the abolition of the Greater London Council in 1986 to address concerns that there was no London-wide road transport policymaking body.^[4]

A Traffic Director for London was appointed by the Department for Transport in 1991 to "streamline the flow of traffic in London" and oversee a London-wide strategy for road transport.^[8]

The director was responsible for creating a Network Plan, deciding on the priorities for road travel in London and how best to manage traffic flows. Roads in the Network Plan became the responsibility of the Traffic Director rather than localised London boroughs.^[4] The lines were first introduced in north and east London in 1991.^[4]

In 1998, the Traffic Director identified nine priorities for the Red Routes scheme:

1. to facilitate the movement of people and goods in London—reliably and safely, and with minimum overall environmental impact;
2. to encourage walking;
3. to improve conditions for cyclists and contribute to the National Cycling Strategy;
4. to provide better conditions for people with disabilities;
5. to provide priority for buses so as to achieve their efficient movement;
6. to improve the local environment and reduce the impact of congestion;
7. to contribute to London's targets for reduced traffic accidents and road vehicle emissions;
8. to support reduced car commuting, especially into or across inner London;
9. to assist measures to reduce traffic on local roads by providing the first choice for non-local traffic, consistent with achieving the other aims for Red Routes.^[4]

Between 1997 and 2000, transport policy in the United Kingdom became a devolved matter under Tony Blair, with the Senedd in Wales and the Scottish Parliament assuming control over nationwide and regional transport strategy in their respective nations. When London was granted a devolved assembly and authority, which came into effect in 2000, regional transport strategy became the responsibility of the Mayor of London.^[9]

The Greater London Authority (GLA) Act 1999, which established the devolved administration in London, gave the Mayor of London a General Transport Duty to "develop and implement policies for the promotion and encouragement of safe, integrated, efficient and economic transport facilities and services to, from and within Greater London". Transport for London (TfL) became the highway authority for all roads under GLA control.^[10]

The Greater London Authority Act 1999 passed the management of motorways wholly within London and trunk roads over to the GLA. This caused several roads to be renumbered in London, including the A102(M) Blackwall Tunnel (to A102), the A40(M) Westway (to A40) and the M41 West Cross Route (to A3220).^[10]

Routes

Red Routes are managed and controlled by London Streets, which is an arm of Transport for London (TfL).

List of Red Routes controlled by TfL^[11][12]

Route	Start of TfL control	End of TfL control	Notes
A1	Angel, Islington	Borehamwood
A10	London Bridge	M25 Junction 25	Including Cycleway 1
A11	Aldgate	Bow Interchange	Including Cycleway 2
A12	Blackwall Tunnel	M25 Junction 28
A13 *	Aldgate	Purfleet	Including Cycleway 3 *Under private-sector contract
A100	Tower Bridge	Bricklayers Arms	Including Tower Bridge Part of the London Inner Ring Road
A101	Limehouse	Bermondsey	Rotherhithe Tunnel
A102	Lower Clapton	Hackney Wick
A102	Blackwall Tunnel	Blackheath	Formerly  A102(M)
A107	Stamford Hill	Lower Clapton
A127	Gallows Corner	M25 Junction 29
A1020	Beckton	Woolwich Ferry
A1023	Tower Bridge	Limehouse Link
A1202	Aldgate	Old Street	Part of the London Inner Ring Road
A1205	Bow	Poplar
A1261 *	Limehouse	Leamouth	* Under private-sector contract
A1400	M11 Junction 4	Gants Hill
A2	Borough	Bexley
A20	New Cross	Ruxley
A21	Lewisham	M25 Junction 4
A22	Purley	Whyteleafe
A23	Kennington	Chipstead
A24	Clapham Common	Nonsuch Park, Cheam	Including Cycleway 7
A200	London Bridge	Bermondsey	Including Cycleway 4
A201	King's Cross	Bricklayers Arms	Including Cycleway 6
A202	Victoria	New Cross	Including Cycleway 5 and Vauxhall Bridge Part of the London Inner Ring Road
A203	Vauxhall	Brixton
A205	M4 Chiswick	Woolwich Ferry	South Circular Road
A210	Lee	Eltham Green
A214	Wandsworth	Streatham
A217	Rosehill	Belmont
A232	Nonsuch Park, Cheam	Locksbottom
A240	Kingston Bypass	Worcester Park Road
A243	Kingston Bypass	Ashtead Common
A2213	Kidbrooke	Lee
A3	London Bridge	Ditton Hill	Except Elephant & Castle to A2 Including Cycleway 7 and London Bridge Part of the London Inner Ring Road
A30	Cranford	Staines
A302	Parliament Square	Elephant & Castle	Except Waterloo to the Imperial War Museum Part including Cycleways 3 and 6, and Westminster Bridge
A306	Barnes	Roehampton
A312	Northolt	Hanworth
A316	Chiswick	Sunbury-on-Thames
A3036	Vauxhall	Westminster Bridge
A3200	Westminster Bridge	London Bridge
A3203	Millbank	Lambeth	Lambeth Bridge only
A3204	Vauxhall	Elephant & Castle	Part of the London Inner Ring Road
A3205	Vauxhall	Wandsworth	Including Cycleway 8
A3211	Westminster	Tower Bridge	Including Cycleway 3
A3212	Westminster	Battersea Bridge	Including Cycleway 8
A3220	The Westway	Clapham Common	Including Battersea Bridge Part formerly  M41
A4	Hyde Park Corner	Longford
A40	The Westway	Uxbridge	Part formerly  A40(M)
A41	Baker Street	M1 Junction 4
A400	Euston	Camden Town
A406	M4 Chiswick	Beckton	North Circular Road
A4180	Northolt	Ruislip
A4200	Camden Town	Mornington Crescent
A4202	Marble Arch	Hyde Park Corner	Part of the London Inner Ring Road
A5	Hyde Park Corner	Warwick Avenue	Part of the London Inner Ring Road
A501	The Westway	Old Street	Part of the London Inner Ring Road
A503	Camden Town	Seven Sisters
A5205	Warwick Avenue	Regent's Park

High accident rates

In Somerset, the local road safety partnership has designated some of the A roads within the county as red routes, indicating that they have a higher than average accident rate.^[13][14][15]

The term has been similarly used to denote dangerous routes in Northamptonshire.^[16][17][18] It was not clear whether the scheme would be maintained following the 2013 closure of the Road Safety Partnership whose initiative it was.^[19]

Lincolnshire has a scheme similar to the Northamptonshire one.^[20][21]

The county of Cheshire, including the town of Warrington, also use the idea of red routes to designate roads with historically high accident rates.^[22][23]

The former^[24] Suffolk speed camera organisation chose the expression red route to denote routes where high levels of accidents justify the frequency use of mobile speed cameras.^[25]

Leicestershire County Council elected in 2008 not to implement a red route scheme, believing it can be misleading and arbitrary. It believes in identifying or solving individual danger spots instead.^[26]