Road User Voice – May 2015 – Future research
01 May 2015
Priorities for improvement
What do road users want to see improved on the Strategic Road Network (SRN)? Many people have opinions on this topic. But what Transport Focus needs is evidence. That is why we are currently carrying out research with car, van, motorcycle and heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers to identify their top priorities for improvement. The research will help us focus on these priorities and better represent their views. The findings will be published in the summer.
Developing a new measure of road user satisfaction
Transport Focus is developing a new survey to replace the existing National Road User Satisfaction Survey (NRUSS), currently carried out by Highways England, in due course. We are working with a University of the West of England-led consortium of specialists to develop a new design that will provide useful, detailed information, on a wider range of road users’ views on the service they receive. Our work will help us identify areas Highways England needs to address to improve road users’ experience of its network. The new survey design will be tested by a number of small pilots prior to its launch.
Apps and maps
One piece of preliminary research looks at how accurately drivers are able to remember their recent trips on the SRN. The results will make it easier for SRN users to tell us about their experience. Participants who were making a number of journeys on the SRN have downloaded an app to their smartphone which tracks their journeys using satellite technology (GPS). They are then asked about the journey and use paper or online maps (including interactive maps) to tell us about their trips. We want to know how well people remember the specific roads they used and which kind of map is easiest for them.
