 The journey time statistics can be broken down to show that northbound journey times were reduced by 26%, equating to an average reduction of 4 minute as compared to the period when the variable speed limits were on but the hard shoulder was not being used and 9% southbound (equating to 1 minute) during the afternoon rush hour.The report also indicated a fall in the number of accidents from over 5 a month to 1.5 per month on average.The Agency did state that normally accident statistics should be compared over a 3-year period, so the initial results should be treated with caution.