ROAD users are being told a few minutes of their time could help shape the future of transport.

Drivers in Middlesbrough, Stockton and Redcar will be flagged down by police officers and trained inteviewers from Monday and asked about their travel patterns.

Andy Hyams, head of transportation with the Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit, said: "We appreciate that surveys on busy roads are bound to cause some disruption, but we will do everything we can to keep this to a minimum. This information really is vital if we are to succeed in gaining support for investment in our transport services, not only to deal with current and future traffic flows, but also to assist in regenerating the area and bringing new jobs."

Canvassers will be looking for information about journey start and finish points in the surveys, to be conducted at various locations across the area.

The unit is looking at a tunnel crossing of the River Tees, downstream of the antiquated Transporter Bridge, the introduction of a Metro-style transport system, light rail and guideways for buses.

Mr Hyams said: "In preparing the case for those developments we need to take extensive measurements of existing travel patterns. We are doing this in a number of ways, including counts of passengers and interviews on buses and trains, journey time surveys, counts of traffic at key points and roadside interviews. We are not going to announce the venues in advance of the surveys because we are anxious that traffic patterns remain normal."