4.2 Review of Indicators
4.2.1 The government set about reducing the monitoring burden on local authorities, through the introduction of Local Area Agreements and the associated National Indicators, published early in 2008. There are 198 indicators which all authorities have to monitor, with councils asked to consider whether to continue to monitor any other information which they have collected in the past.
4.2.2 We are reviewing the suite of LTP indicators and targets following the publication of these National Indicators, and we are currently considering:
- The importance of the policy area
- The importance of the indicator as a performance management tool
- The importance of the data for transport planning purposes (eg. Modelling)
- Other uses or requirements for the indicator
- Potential to improve the indicator and data collection
- The costs of data collection and analysis
4.2.3 The review affects the following indicators, some of which were DfT mandatory indicators for LTP2, and some of which were chosen locally to reflect GM interests.
BV99z Road Safety Slight Casualties
4.2.4 We will continue to monitor slight casualties as it provides a larger evidence base for potential improvements, rather than solely using indicators such as KSIs which, in areas with low absolute numbers, can be volatile from year to year.
BV104 Bus Satisfaction
4.2.5 The previous Best Value AGMA 3-yearly survey has now ceased and will be replaced with data from GMPTE twice-yearly Tracker survey, which has been running for a number of years. A new LTP target will be developed.
BV 187 Footway Maintenance
4.2.6 Data collection will continue in the short term, with a view to developing and introducing a revised methodology which suits our needs better from April 2009. We would like to expand coverage to all footways, not just categories 1&2, using coarse visual inspection and then possibly detailed visual inspection on the worst 5% of cases. We would like to agree on a common set of rules and parameters and a base level of data collected by everyone, but allow individual councils to exceed this for their internal purposes.
BV224b Condition of Unclassified Roads
4.2.7 We would like to continue with this indicator as it has a reasonably consistent set of data over time, and supports the United Kingdom Pavement Management System.
LTP1a Accessibility to Key Interchanges
4.2.8 This indicator was designed to give a high level overview of accessibility and is not suitable to be broken down to give District level information, as required for Local Area Agreements. We therefore intend to review the way we measure accessibility.
LTP1b Accessibility for Jobseekers
4.2.9 This indicator will not be continued, as it will be replaced by the new indicator NI176
LTP3 Cycling
4.2.10 This indicator will be maintained. Greater consideration will be given to monitoring the effects of our investment at Cycle Investment Sites by a variety of techniques tailored to the nature of each site.
LTP5 Bus Punctuality and Reliability
4.2.11 A new data collection method was introduced at the start of 2008/09, which targets key routes and is able to produce figures which can be interpreted at different levels; by route, district or countywide. The proportion of operator observations will closely reflect the degree of market share of bus operators, and there will be an increase of 62% in the amount of data captured. The method will enable a greater focus on congestion and will help identify the location of specific problems. A new target will be developed once baseline data has been analysed.
LTP6 Peak Hour Traffic to Town Centres
4.2.12 This indicator will be maintained as it has proved useful for a variety of purposes, and required significant investment in hardware at the start of LTP2.
LTP8 Air Quality
4.2.13 We intend to replace the DfT prescribed 2011 target based on modelled receptor points with the previously interim indicator of modelled emissions from traffic overall, as we feel this will better reflect technological improvements in vehicles and local actions under the LTP to reduce air pollution. The data is easy to collect, and retains consistency with the CO2 emissions indicator, for which a broadly similar range of actions are required. However, we note, and are investigating, the need for better air quality measurement on the ground.
LTP9 CO2 Emissions
4.2.14 We will keep the indicator in its existing format.
LTP10a Wheelchair Accessible Buses
4.2.15 We would prefer to keep the indicator in its existing format. However, problems have been found with the accuracy of operator fleet lists held by GMPTE, which may result in this indicator being discontinued.
LTP10b Raised Bus Stops
4.2.16 We will keep the indicator in its existing format.
LTP 10c Accessible Rail Stations
4.2.17 We will keep the indicator in its existing format.
LTP 10d (BV165) Pedestrian Crossings
4.2.18 It is not intended to continue using this as an LTP indicator. We experienced problems in applying a consistent definition of the standards required, and also recognise the danger of the target driving improvements which may not necessarily be a cost-effective way of improving physical accessibility for mobility impaired people. Instead, a standard high-quality specification for this infrastructure will be developed and applied.
LTP10e (BV178) PRoW Ease of Use
4.2.19 We are investigating whether there is a better way of measuring the contribution of PRoW to the achievement of LTP objectives. We would like to measure more specifically improvements to those PRoW which link places where people want to travel regularly, such as places of healthcare and education.
LTP11 Walking
4.2.20 We will keep the indicator in its existing format.
LTP12a Modal Split to Regional Centre & LTP12b Modal Split to Other Key Centres
4.2.21 These were identified as high priority indicators, and therefore they will not only be maintained, but the methodology enhanced to provide more useful and robust figures. Each centre will be monitored annually instead of once every three years, and a better method of counting bus passengers will be used.