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The government is to introduce hard-shoulder running on several of the UK's busiest motorways as part of a £6bn anti-congestion package. Ruth Kelly, transport secretary, says the scheme - to be phased in over the next six years - will cover 500 miles of motorway. It will include the M3 and M4 coming into London, the M4 and M5 around Bristol, the M3 and M27 approaching Southampton, and possibly part of the M1.

Hard-shoulder driving at peak times has already been successfully trialled on  the M42 near Birmingham. However, David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, believes the solution to congestion is extra capacity, which means improving road infrastructure. "With the financial impact of congestion now costing UK businesses more than £17bn, opening up more hard shoulders is a positive move.

"However, this cannot be the long-term solution to solving a major congestion problem on a decrepit road network," he says. As part of the £6bn package, the government has approved work on the A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton widening scheme to start in 2010, as well as a new A421 dual-carriageway linking Bedford to the M1. Improvements to the M25 J30 near Lakeside shopping centre will be considered for construction before 2014.

The government is also looking into whether tolled lanes could help traffic flow more smoothly. Other measures include giving Leeds, Cambridgeshire and Reading up to £200m a year for improved public transport and local congestion-charging  schemes. The first £6m instalment from a £60m fund to tackle congestion is also available for Bristol, Greater Manchester, Leicester, London, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear and the West Midlands.