Why Motorway Services Score 95 Percent but Transport Focus Finds Charging Value Only 58 Percent

• Transport Focus surveyed 123 motorway service sites and found 95 percent of visitors satisfied overall, yet only 58 percent satisfied with the value of EV charging and 59 to 74 percent with the value of food and drink.
• Welcome Break Rotherham on the M1 tops the table on 99 percent, Roadchef’s Watford Gap Northbound sits last on 86 percent, and four of the five lowest rated sites belong to Roadchef.
• An AA poll of 12,479 drivers found 31 percent give motorway food and drink prices a poor score against 17 percent a good one, which leaves choosing where and when to stop as the lever a driver controls.

Drivers Leave Happy, but the Price Tag Is Where the Scores Fall

Nearly every driver who pulls into a motorway service area drives away satisfied. The paying part of the stop is a different story. Transport Focus, the independent transport watchdog, rated 123 sites this year and recorded the highest overall satisfaction in the history of its Motorway Services User Survey: 95 percent, up from 94 percent in 2023 and 93 percent in 2022. Two thirds of visitors, 67 percent, were very satisfied.

Value for money is where the score drops. Visitors rate the value of food and drink between 59 and 74 percent, and only 58 percent of electric car drivers who charged at a service area rated the value of charging as good. Set against the 95 percent overall figure, the best value score trails by 21 points and the worst by 37.

The survey scores value as a rating, not in pounds, so the gap is one of perception rather than a measured price. It still shows which sites to trust and which part of the stop draws the complaints. Here is how the 123 sites ranked and what to do with that before the next long drive.

How 123 Sites Scored From Rotherham to Watford Gap

Rotherham, a Welcome Break site on the M1, took first place on 99 percent. The site opened in January 2025 and is one of the newest on the network, with EV charging, a Changing Places toilet, a play area for children and a gym for lorry drivers. Rugby and Sawtry (both Moto) take second and third, with Welcome Break’s Sarn Park in Wales and Moto’s Kinross in Scotland completing the top five on the same score. The full report adds three more sites on 99 percent: Pease Pottage and Donington Park (both Moto) and Norton Canes (Roadchef).

The bottom of the table belongs largely to one operator. Watford Gap Northbound ranks 123rd on 86 percent, down from 95 percent in 2023, and Transport Focus calls it one of the oldest facilities on the network. Bothwell and Taunton Deane Southbound sit just above it on 87 percent, Sedgemoor Northbound (Welcome Break) scores 88 percent and Watford Gap Southbound 89 percent. Four of those five sites are Roadchef’s.

Operators land closer together than the site scores suggest: Extra and Moto lead on 96 percent, Welcome Break follows on 95 percent and Roadchef scores 93 percent. Norton Canes shows how an operator average can hide a great site. Transport Focus rated each side of the 37 paired sites separately, so drivers heading north and south at the same location can meet different standards: 86 percent against 89 percent at Watford Gap.

Louise Collins, Director at Transport Focus, said: “Motorway services have improved significantly over the years, and road users are seeing the benefit. A good stop can make a real difference to a journey, helping people get back on the road feeling better than when they arrived. Rotherham’s debut at the top of the table and the turnaround at Hartshead Moor Eastbound show what good services can offer.”

The turnaround is large. Hartshead Moor Eastbound climbed 13 points, from 84 percent in 2023 to 97 percent. Across the network, 80 of the 123 sites score 95 percent or better, and only five fall below 90 percent. The spread between best and worst has shrunk from 38 points in 2017, when the lowest site scored 62 percent, to 13 points now. Interviewers spoke to visitors as they left each site between 13 May and 5 July 2026 and completed 33,742 core interviews, about 275 per site.

Why Value for Money Is the Weak Spot

Food and drink earn good marks. The research agency report published beside the survey records 91 percent satisfaction with quality and about 94 percent with speed of service. Value trails both, and it is the lowest rated measure in every food and drink category, whether the order is eaten in or taken away.

EV charging follows the same pattern. Of drivers who charged at a service area, 84 percent were satisfied overall. Satisfaction with the wait for a charge point reached 92 percent, up from 79 percent in 2023, charging speed reached 89 percent, payment options 91 percent and ease of use 90 percent. Value sits at 58 percent, 10 points below its 2022 level of 68 percent and a little above 2023’s 55 percent. One comment printed beside the EV results reads: “Usually fast and efficient so that I can get back on the road quickly.”

Transport Focus offers a reason for the dip: home charging possibly sets the lower price that many EV drivers measure service area prices against. The share of visitors who charged an EV on their stop doubled from 4 percent in 2023 to 8 percent, and 14 percent now drive a fully electric or plug in hybrid car, up from 9 percent three years ago. Satisfaction with the online information that lets a driver check a charger before arriving stands at 77 percent, lower than most other parts of the charging experience.

The AA gives the clearest read on food and drink prices. Its Yonder poll of 12,479 members, run from 14 to 20 May 2026, asked drivers to score service areas from 1 to 10. On price, 17 percent said good, 46 percent neutral and 31 percent poor, which makes drivers almost twice as likely to rate prices poorly as positively. Quality drew 34 percent good against 11 percent poor. An earlier AA poll in February 2025 found only 9 percent agreed that “the price of food and drink at MSAs is reasonable”, while 69 percent disagreed and 37 percent strongly disagreed.

Edmund King, AA President, said: “Our research shows that motorists are not necessarily criticising the food and drink offer itself. In fact, drivers are much more positive about the choice and quality available than they are about the prices.”

King added: “But value for money remains the sticking point. Fewer than one in five drivers rate MSA food and drink prices as good, while almost a third rate them poor.”

The AA also gives the operators’ side. Service areas stay open round the clock with free toilets, and the AA says that adds to staffing and running costs compared with sites with shorter opening hours. King said: “Drivers should not feel they are paying over the odds simply because they have pulled off the motorway. Services are there to support safe journeys, and regular breaks are vital for helping people stay alert behind the wheel.”

What the Lowest Rated Sites and Operators Say Back

Work has started at the bottom of the table. After the survey fieldwork, some food outlets at Watford Gap Northbound were refurbished and a new food supplier was introduced. The operator, Roadchef, has also announced investment of more than £300 million across the business over five years. The next survey will show whether a score of 86 percent moves.

Getting to the building is the other weak spot. Approach signage rated very good or good by 91 percent of visitors in 2023 and by 87 percent in 2026. Transport Focus says it cannot pinpoint why, but it points to new EV charging hubs, revised parking arrangements and site extensions as possible causes of harder to follow layouts. One visitor comment in the report reads: “The signage for the car park was very late notice we nearly ended up in the lorry park because it was so close to the motorway. We were going very slow too.”

Lorry drivers fare worse. Their overall satisfaction is 90 percent against 95 percent for all visitors, and only 42 percent rate the value of the parking package. Transport Focus plans to publish in depth research on lorry drivers’ satisfaction next month.

Collins said the work is not finished: “We’ve also seen real progress on accessibility. It shows what can be achieved when the industry recognises an issue and works together to tackle it. There is still more to do, including on car parking, wayfinding and facilities for HGV drivers, and our survey will help us track progress in these areas in the years ahead.”

How to Stop Smarter Before the Next Long Drive

Start with the site, not the signs. Transport Focus publishes an interactive map of all 123 results, and the scores are split by direction, so check the side you will actually use. Where a route passes two services, the scores let a driver pick the better one in advance.

Plan the break itself. King said: “Motorway service areas are essential for drivers, particularly on long journeys when people need somewhere safe and convenient to stop, rest and refresh.”

The AA gives a clear rule for the timing: “The AA recommends drivers stop every two hours or so to refresh, refocus and help prevent tiredness. If drivers find themselves opening the window or turning up the radio to stay awake, they should take it as a sign they are too tired and need to stop at the next safe place. Having two cups of coffee, or an equivalent caffeinated drink, followed by a short nap of around 15 minutes can help before continuing.”

A stop that follows that rule can run into a second cost. Free parking at services is capped, usually at two hours, and an overstay can bring a private charge in the post, so set a phone alarm when the engine goes off. The detail is in this guide to the two hour parking limit.

Then control the part of the bill the survey flags. Toilets at service areas are free. A flask and a packed lunch remove food and drink prices from the stop entirely, and the AA poll suggests that is the part drivers resent most. An electric car driver should check the charger and its price per kilowatt hour online before arriving. Online information is the weakest scored part of the charging experience, and home electricity is the benchmark drivers hold the price against. The Department for Transport published terms of reference on 9 June for an independent review of public charging costs that covers higher powered chargers at motorway service areas and reports in autumn 2026. The review will reflect tax costs in its findings but has been told not to recommend changes to tax policy.

Drivers who still feel overcharged have the survey on their side. Transport Focus uses the results to make the case for improvements, and Hartshead Moor Eastbound shows what a site can achieve: 13 points in three years. King’s closing point is the standard to hold services to: “Motorway services make regular breaks easier, but they also need to feel like fair value.”

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Sources

• Transport Focus: Rotherham rated best motorway services in Great Britain
• Transport Focus: Motorway Services User Survey 2026 summary report
• AA: Motorway service areas leave drivers hungry for better value

Reviewed by Preetam Gadekar