Ruth Kelly has opened the UK's first motorway car share lane aimed at enabling motorists to "reduce both their journey times and their carbon footprints".

The transport secretary opened the 1.7 mile lane linking the southbound M606 with the eastbound M62.

The lane can be used by cars and taxis with at least two passengers, as well as buses and coaches.

It will cut between six and eight minutes off the average journey, saving regular commuters 30 to 40  minutes per week. 

Kelly said that four out of five vehicles using the west Yorkshire junction had only one occupant.

"I hope this new lane will encourage people to share their journeys, which will ease congestion, cut journey times and improve local air quality," she said.

"The government is committed to finding innovative ways to get more from our existing roads and improving journeys for motorists.

"We have identified around 500 miles of motorway as potential priority sites for new traffic management measures, which may also include more car share lanes."

John Jarvis, the project director of Northern Way which funded the move, said: "We are already suffering high levels of congestion on the north's motorways especially around our city regions where the motorways cater for long distance traffic and the needs of our resurgent city economies.

"If we can encourage greater levels of car sharing through the provision of dedicated lanes at suitable locations it will help lock in the benefits of additional road capacity and be good for the economy and the environment."