Transport User Voice October 2024 – Improving the road user experience of diversions

07 October 2024

Highways UK research launch

Are we on the right road? This is one of the key questions drivers often ask when faced with baffling road diversions and the subject of our new research out this month.

Transport Focus heads to Birmingham on 16 October for the annual Highways UK conference to launch this research on improving the road user experience of diversions.

Being diverted away from your intended route, often late at night and perhaps in unfamiliar territory, is when roadworks present potentially the greatest challenge for road users. Think about the panic that you’ll get lost ‘in the middle of nowhere’; if you were banking on being home in an hour to take medicine; or if you are a coach or lorry driver, perhaps not permitted to use satnav, coming across a diversion you weren’t expecting. As part of Transport Focus activity to improve road user satisfaction when encountering roadworks, we have carried out a deep dive into their experiences.

Transport Focus colleagues will be speaking at the conference and will also be on hand at our stand to discuss our latest research into road users’ experiences when diverted off an intended route. Transport Focus’s Chief Executive, Alex Robertson, will also appear as part of a keynote panel at the start of the first day of the conference which will focus on connecting customers with confidence through an optimised strategic road network. He will be joined by speakers from the Department for Transport, National Highways and the Office for Rail and Road.

We are also hosting a panel discussion ‘Diversion routes – the road to satisfaction?’ with Transport Focus Director Louise Collins and Head of Strategy and Intelligence Guy Dangerfield, Nathan Dacres from National Highways and Aston Brand from Atkins Realis. We’ll be exploring what road users do when there is a diversion; how they feel and what they would like National Highways to do differently.

If you are heading to Birmingham, come and speak to the team to learn more about our upcoming research and how we’re making a difference for road users.

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