A Standard Terminal Arrival Route is precisely that, a predetermined route with speed and height restrictions to enable aircraft to arrive at a terminal holding facility. It provides a clearance limit and is obviously a good idea in the event of R/T fail or RADAR failure.
As people have mentioned previously, if a continuous descent or direct routing to a centrefix is available, then it will generally be given and is especially common at night. Alternatively, a route via a holding FIX/position ending in a RADAR or procedural approach may be more appropriate depending on the traffric and/or equipment situation at the time.
I do work in AREA, hence the name, but I think this would be a fair description of how my colleagues at Scottish/Glasgow would view the matter.
Regards
AREA52
