Putting road users at the heart of decision making

Transcription

1 Putting road users at the heart of decision making Guy Dangerfield Highways UK, 26 November 2015

2 Transport Focus Independent transport user watchdog Rail in Great Britain Bus, coach & tram in England, outside London Since 30 March 2015, all users of the Strategic Road Network in England* * additional duties for Passenger Focus, which was renamed as a result

3 Transport Focus key principles We are a consumer organisation, driven by what the transport user needs and wants We are evidence-based what we say and advocate is based on research among users themselves We aim to be useful to those who use, provide and fund transport services

4 Gathering the evidence Tracker satisfaction surveys National Rail Passenger Survey Bus Passenger Survey Tram Passenger Survey Under development, a new road user survey to replace Highways England s National Road User Satisfaction Survey (NRUSS) Research into users priorities for improvement One off research into specific issues (often in partnership with third parties)

5 Purpose of the road user watchdog To ensure. that Highways England, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), central government and others focus on road users needs more than they otherwise would. so road users are provided with a better service. leading to higher road user satisfaction

6 Insights so far Driving is an emotional process, as well as a logical one Driver attitudes differ, depending on experience and confidence Ø Invincibles Ø Nostalgics Ø Cavaliers Ø Reluctants Journey satisfaction, and sometimes safety, can be impacted by behaviour of fellow road users Other issues emerging: Ø Communication, information and signage Ø Roadside facilities Ø Education/training

7 Nostalgics were mostly leisure drivers, typically older drivers who remembered when driving on motorways was easier and less busy. Anxious about busy motorway driving and preferred using A roads Invincibles include most HGV/professional /coach drivers and some business and leisure drivers. Tended to see other drivers as less able, and had little respect for Sunday drivers. Thought others needed education to drive safely Reluctants tended to find driving on the SRN to be stressful and behaved very cautiously in difficult driving situations. Occasionally this cautious behaviour was considered to be dangerous by other drivers Cavalier drivers tended not to have held their licence for long and/or had limited motorway experience. They underestimated risks, and were over-confident about their own driving skills

8 Priorities for improvement

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12 Surface quality top priority for improvement Surely, people are confused with local roads? No they were talking about the SRN What do people mean by improved quality? Comfort of ride smoothness Condition of surface potholes, deterioration between lanes (motorcyclists in particular) Noise given off Being safe even when wet

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15 Motorcyclists, in particular, dislike trenches like this

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17 Surface quality top priority for improvement Surely, people are confused with local roads? No they were talking about the SRN What do people mean by improved quality? Comfort of ride smoothness Condition of surface potholes, deterioration between lanes (motorcyclists in particular) Noise given off Being safe even when wet Transport Focus will carry out further research in 2016/17 to understand which aspects of surface quality road users want to see improved

18 What makes a good journey? Factors determining a good journey - motorways National Road User Satisfaction Survey

19 What makes a good journey? Factors determining a good journey A roads National Road User Satisfaction Survey

20 Measuring road user satisfaction In April 2016 Transport Focus will inherit the existing National Road User Satisfaction Survey (NRUSS) In Autumn 2016 a new Road User Survey will be introduced by Transport Focus After a period of dual running, the existing NRUSS will be discontinued The new survey will: Ø Be completed online to ensure a significantly higher sample size (20,000) than NRUSS (2,000) Ø Be more representative than the current survey Ø Enable comparative benchmarking Ø Allow follow up probes to understand what s behind the answers to particular questions

21 Measuring road user satisfaction Pilot phase for the new survey underway research agency Future Thinking appointed to lead Amongst other things the pilots will test: Ø Ø Ø Ø the best way to engage respondents initially the best length of questionnaire the response rate that the questionnaire works Consultation on the questionnaire ongoing Ø Highways England, Office of Rail and Road, Department for Transport Ø Operators and maintainers Ø Road users

22 Coming up. HGV drivers priorities for improvement publication December Analysis of last four years of NRUSS publication December Road users experiences and needs from roadside facilities new research Road users experiences and needs during delays and disruption, incidents and roadworks new research A review of how Highways England handles customer contacts Providing advice to Highways England about increasing road user input to the design of schemes A review of published research into driver attitude and behaviour, and its impact on journey satisfaction and safety

23 Coming up. Analysis of the priorities for improvement among nonmotorised users of Highways England s network cyclists, pedestrians, horse-riders If needed, research into HGV drivers experiences and needs when involved in Operation Stack In discussion with Highways England, Department for Transport, Office of Rail and Road and others about putting the user at the heart of the second Road Investment Strategy

24 Transport Focus key principles We are a consumer organisation, driven by what the transport user needs and wants We are evidence-based what we say and advocate is based on research among users themselves We aim to be useful to those who use, provide and fund transport services

25 Putting road users at the heart of decision making Guy Dangerfield Highways UK, 26 November 2015