Gaist- Supporting The Government’s Vision For Active Travel
Following the establishment of the active travel fund for local authorities, active travel provision is being transformed for a new era of walking and cycling with a £200 million wave of fresh funding from the Department for Transport. This took another step forward with the publication of the framework document for Active Travel England, outlining the responsibilities and objectives for the new government executive agency. But how best can local authorities prepare to bid for and allocate this funding effectively, knowing that they can accurately report on the condition of their active travel networks?
Facing The Challenge
Many local authorities face planning and maintenance challenges when making decisions on how best to allocate funding for active travel and how to ensure it will provide their constituents with value-for-money. This includes a fundamental lack of useable, reliable data on their network which would enable them to make decisions with confidence and communicate their strategic decisions and network condition to their Council Members and the Department for Transport alike.
With over 15 years’ experience working closely with local authorities to provide the information they need to manage their network effectively, facilitating long term strategic planning and reporting – we are well placed to fill the knowledge gap in active travel.
To that end, we have built a survey offer specifically for the local authority active travel and highways managers responsible to provide the most detailed information of their active travel network available anywhere. Tailored to their exact network requirements, we enable active travel managers to understand the condition of their network in granular detail- covering asset location and condition, footway, cycleway and road condition and including bespoke key contextual information required by our clients.
Filling Gaps In The Data
In the context of active travel networks spanning highways, footways, cycleways and all of the connecting intersections - traditional survey methods can leave gaps in the data, leaving those responsible for active travel improvements and maintenance in the dark.
Commonly, the entirety of the footway cannot be captured (due to roadside obstructions such as cars and trees) and makes it impossible to effectively capture data and analyse the cycleway from a cyclist’s perspective.
But how does our new offering surmount these common problems? The answer lies in a proprietary combination of our vehicle, walked and cycle survey solutions otherwise unavailable to local authorities.
By tailoring elements of our existing survey capabilities to fulfill the needs of Local Authority active travel and highways managers, we are making a huge difference to the understanding they have of their active travel networks.
We provide condition analysis of your full active travel network, grades 1-5, with full details of specific condition damage at the click of a button that uses a transparent methodology designed to local authority specifications. We also geolocate all of your active travel signs, lines and other key assets (with condition assessment) in one easy-to-use dataset, designed to give you all the information you need.
All of the analysis we provide is derived from and underpinned by High-Definition 360-degree imagery, enabling you to walk your active travel network from your desktop, giving maximum transparency and enabling you to maximise your resources where they are most needed.
All of this data can be easily integrated into your data management system or use our AssetStream system at no extra charge.
This new offering also enables effective reporting on the improvements made and condition of active travel networks. As outlined by DfT and Trudy Harrison MP in the announcement on 21 July of the framework document for Acitve Travel England Active Travel England will be conducting regular audits of local authority active travel funding in the years to come, putting those receiving the active travel funding . We provide a rigorous, transparent methodology for assessing and reporting footway, cycleway and carriageway condition
By providing full asset location/identification, full network condition and extensive contextual feature analysis, we are giving local authorities complete confidence to plan and maintain the next generation of active travel networks. But don’t just take our word for it- let us show you. Contact jake.lawson@gaist.co.uk
to arrange a demonstration at your convenience.
