Improve Transport Infrastructure
AYLESBURY,BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Over £30bn a year of public money is spent in the UK on transport every year. However, when it comes to planning transport infrastructure aimed at alleviating the negative impacts of school commutes, these projects suffer from a vacuum of reliable information. They often rely on outdated repositories and unreliable sources of static data such as 'hands-up surveys'. This leads to much of the budget set aside for infrastructure promoting sustainable and active travel, being spent inefficiently.
HomeRun provides a live and measurable data-set and allows for easy consultations and polling. See below for an example of how HomeRun identified a simple obstacle that was rendering a million pound investment in transport infrastructure ineffective.
CASE STUDY COMMUTE FOOTPRINT
NO. OF PUPILS
286 PUPILS
AVG. JOURNEY
DISTANCE
1.57 MILES
% USERS
WALKING
19 %
% USERS
DRIVING
81 %
The large majority of parents at this Aylesbury primary school drive their children to school despite millions of pounds being spent by the local authority to encourage and enable sustainable travel in the area.
The largest cluster of car journeys originate from a residential area, only a 15 minute walk from the school
01 Pedestrian & Cycle lane
The lane was built alongside part of the path to encourage residents to walk and cycle to school – at a total project cost of over £1m.
02 Modal Shift Opportunity
18% of the school’s catchment live in the highlighted residential area, located a 15 minute walk away from the school.
Despite the expensive lane, 82% of those residents still drive their children to school, accounting for over 20% of all cars used on this school’s commutes footprint.
03 Primary ObstaclE Identified
A key reason for the ineffectiveness of the pedestrian and cycle lane was that parents were concerned about the safety of the double roundabout crossing before the lane begins.
This was highlighted by HomeRun users setting up ‘checkpoint alert zones’ on the double roundabout, indicating their safety concern.
KEY CONCLUSIONS
Local authorities often undertake spending on transport infrastructure when budget becomes available through funds or section 106. Such budget needs to be spent within set deadlines and having the most thought out solutions already planned enables better project and better outcomes.
Without a reliable data-set, solutions are often based on anecdotal evidence or influential individual's preferences and ideals. On many occasions these do not marry up with the targeted users concerns and preferences, leading to under-utilisation.
Having an engaged audience and a platform to poll and consult the targeted users of future infrastructure, greatly increases the probability of gaining better utilisation and outcomes. Listening to people's concerns is the most effective way of solving them.
