Buckinghamshire County Council has been ranked the best authority in the country for managing transport bringing an extra £1.2 million in Government funding.

New tables, which show how 64 councils are performing on transport, gives Bucks a 95 per cent rating. Marks are given for drawing up and more importantly delivering transport plans in line with Government requirements.

The council is responsible for all roads, apart from trunk roads and motorways, and roads are top of people's lists when they are asked for their views on county council services. What they want most is a smooth ride to work with a good road surface and no potholes.

The state of main roads is getting better, with the number at the end of their life and needing major structural repair cut from 14 per cent to 7.5 per cent.

Gary Emmerson, the council's transport chief, said the aim is to get the figure to 2.5 per cent, because the working life of a road is 40 years. If only 2.5 per cent have to be done the council is on top of things.

Minor roads and country roads are not as far ahead. "We want to get to 10 per cent this year from 11.5 per cent," said Mr Emmerson. "But of course there are more roads 3,000km compared with 300km of A roads."

This structural maintenance is long term. Potholes are a day-to-day nuisance and this year's target of getting 85 per cent of potholes filled within 24 hours should be passed next year, Mr Emmerson added.

Skid resistant road surfaces are now being laid. People used to complain, said Mr Emmerson, when they returned from France where they found lovely quiet road surfaces. The problem was these were not skid resistant and consequently though the French drove quietly they also had a high mortality rate. The latest surfacing combines quietness with skid resistance.

The Government also demands road safety, public transport and getting more people out of cars and on to bikes. If councils do not comply they do not get good marks or the money they feel they need.

Buckinghamshire's safer routes to school project is working. The number of parents taking children to school by car has been reduced from 44 per cent to 42 per cent, and the target is 30 per cent by 2008.

The county is also lobbying companies to encourage workers not to drive to work every day, setting an example by cutting the proportion of its own staff who do so by 15 per cent in two years. It is also scores well for providing bus and train timetable information.

Accident rates especially fatalities and serious injuries are coming down in Bucks. Since 2000 there has been a 25 per cent reduction in the number of child accidents

"These are things that improve quality of life," added Mr Emmerson.