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General | Accessibility Planning | Partnerships | Data & Modelling | ALP | OGDs
withinreach offers support and advice to local transport authorities (in England, outside London) in implementing accessibility planning; and develops and maintains a framework to facilitate development of, and dissemination of good practice on accessibility planning.
What help DOES withinreach offer? withinreach:
withinreach does not help LTAs by:
How do I get in touch with the withinreach office?
See the Contact us page via the link at the top of the page, or by the e-mail and telephone information on the left-hand side of this page.
What guidance should I read?
See the sections on DfT guidance and Other guidance via the links at the top of this page. See the learning Toolkit.
What are the links between the LTP and the Accessibility Strategy?
The Accessibility Planning Guidance points out that accessibility issues should be an integral part of the LTP. Accessibility strategies should take full account of wider transport strategies and policies within the LTP, and likewise wider transport strategies and policies should take full account of accessibility objectives.
The LTP guidance recommends that authorities demonstrate the benefits of their local transport programmes and policies in sections reflecting objectives for each of the transport shared priorities (accessibility, congestions, road safety and air quality). Authorities may therefore wish to present their accessibility strategy in the section of the LTP covering objectives for accessibility. However, presentation of accessibility strategies within LTP submissions is at the discretion of the LTA. If an authority wishes to present its accessibility strategy as an annex to their LTP, this may be acceptable, provided the text within the body of the LTP provides the desired level of integration.
Accessibility strategies will be assessed as part of an authority's LTP and will therefore be one of the factors taken into account in allocating LTP integrated transport block funding. In assessing strategies, the Government will be looking to see how well all the components set out in paragraph 2.6 (for the March 2006 final LTP assessment) of the accessibility planning guidance have been met.
What do I need to include in my final LTP in March 2006?
Final LTPs in 2006 should contain the completed accessibility strategy as set out in the accessibility planning guidance. Details are included in paragraph 2.6 of this guidance.
Can you give me an update on accessibility issues and Local Development Frameworks?
LDF core indicator 3b currently covers the percentage of new residential development within 30 minutes public transport time of: a GP, hospital, primary school, secondary school, area of employment and major retail centre. We understand that ODPM will shortly be issuing an update of the LDF core indicators including a more detailed definition of the elements constituting indicator 3b. Planning authorities are responsible for calculating this indicator. Officials from DfT and ODPM are discussing how this LDF indicator and the core DfT accessibility indicators can be more closely aligned.
A message emerging from recent regional annual monitoring report (AMR) seminars and an good practice note (published by ODPM) is that planning authorities are encouraged to form partnerships and liaise and involve relevant authorities (including LTAs) early in developing monitoring structures to make the best use of existing knowledge and data.
The ‘Full Guidance on Local Transport Plans’ made clear that DfT will look for evidence in LTPs that plans, targets, policies and objectives delivered by other areas of local government, including Local Development Documents, will in future be drawn up in a way that is broadly consistent with the LTP and its targets and objectives. Local transport planning should not be perceived simply as a tool for solving problems caused or exacerbated by decisions made without reference to their transport implications in another part of the same authority, or in a partner authority.
What is the latest situation with the core indicators?
The 2004 threshold core indicators were issued on a CD to local transport authorities in November 2005. The CD also includes supporting data which may be of use, including links to car ownership and IMD figures. The threshold indicators have been published on the DfT website here.
The dissemination of the indicators for the primary and secondary schools will be delayed, as disclosure issues will need to be considered before these can be made available.
How can I learn more about Accessibility Planning?
withinreach offers:
What’s the process for developing an Accessibility Strategy?
The five stages of the Accessibility Strategy are:
On what basis should the full accessibility strategies be produced?
It is likely that authorities will already have a good understanding of the accessibility issues in their area. Authorities should use their own and partners’ local knowledge and experience to produce their framework strategies.
How will accessibility planning be assessed in the full LTP?
The assessment will focus in particular on how well integrated accessibility visions and objectives are within the LTP and wider strategies, and how well authorities’ proposals for developing their accessibility strategy demonstrate their understanding of the process and importance of developing their strategies by March 2006.
Will I be able change my accessibility strategy in the final LTP?
Authorities will be able to change anything set out in their framework strategies in light of the evidence based analysis and further work with partners, but they will need to explain why any changes have been made.
I have already done lots of mapping using my own software—should I include the results in my LTP?
Yes—The DfT wants full strategies to be based on as much information as authorities have available at the time they produce them. Some authorities are ahead in terms of analysis, others are ahead in terms of developing partnerships or considering high level objectives.
Can I re-open other sections of my LTP if my priorities change as a result of the accessibility analysis carried out after July 2005?
It is unlikely that an authority’s accessibility strategy would change so significantly as to require the whole of the LTP to be re-opened. But authorities may need to update elements within their LTPs which are linked to their accessibility strategies. Such changes should be specified in completed accessibility strategies and authorities should explain why the changes are necessary.
What should an action plan contain?
The content of an action plan will vary depending on several factors but you may wish to cover the following issues:
Do I need to include at least one fully developed action plan in my full accessibility strategy?
As was said in the recent withinreach seminars, a phased approach to local assessments and action plans over the LTP period is entirely acceptable. It is unlikely that authorities would be able to undertake assessments and action plans for all of their identified priorities by March 2006, but w hat will be expected is something more developed and detailed for the first year of LTP2, but not for all five. This would not necessarily have to be one (or more) complete action plan(s) relating to a single priority, but could be the start of several action plans to be progressed in the first year.
Who do I need to contact?
Strategic Partnerships need to be formed from the start as part of the Strategic Accessibility Assessment. This would involve partnerships with policy developers and service deliverers from other government departments (e.g. Primary Care Trusts, Local Education Authorities and Learning and Skills Councils, local jobcentres, Local Planning Authorities).
Why do I need to contact them?
Accessibility Planning is not just about transport. Full co-operation from all areas of government, key service providers and transport providers is essential if all are to ‘buy-in’ to improving accessibility. Sometimes, a service delivery solution will be the best way to provide accessibility, rather than a transport solution.
How should we address the need to include a statement of the involvement of our partners?
Paragraph 2.10 points out that ‘Authorities are encouraged to report on the involvement and actions of accessibility planning partners as follows:
For the March 2006 submission you may wish to consider covering the following issues (please note this list is not exhaustive):
For the March 2006 Full Accessibility Strategy submission, paragraph 2.6 of the guidance requests ‘evidence that partners have helped to develop the strategy and that specific partnerships have been put in place to assess, and develop solutions to, the identified priorities.’
This will require further elaboration of the July submission, giving greater detail on the way that partners have helped to influence the accessibility strategy. It should demonstrate the involvement by partners in the process of developing the accessibility strategy. This could also report on partnerships that are taking forward the accessibility action plans at a local level. It could usefully identify evidence of how the interventions proposed in the action plans fit with the objectives and the emerging plans of the partners. Once again the evidence provided could be in the form of a letter from the partner or from a group of partners.
What can an accessibility model be used for?
An accessibility model can be used to support the analysis, assessment and appraisal in the earlier stages of developing an accessibility strategy; for strategic accessibility mapping to identify issues as part of the Strategic Accessibility Assessments; for local accessibility mapping as part of the Local Accessibility Assessments and then as part of the appraisal of proposed options to address issues.
What software do I use?
That is up to you. The Accession software provides a complete tool for developing a model to support all aspects of accessibility assessment and appraisal but in many cases the analysis can also be carried out using other mapping or GIS applications such as ArcView, MapInfo or TransCAD. Other accessibility models may similarly be employed. There is no requirement to use any modelling software.
Each Government Office and each LTP local transport authority and Metropolitan District in England outside London is entitled to one free copy of Accession, though they will be required to pay an annual support and maintenance contract to utilise this free licence (ranging from £500 for one year to £2,250 for five years).
Where do I get help on Accession?
I have my own software. Do I still need to obtain Accession and pay for the support and maintenance contract?
No. The Department for Transport is recommending that authorities use Accession when undertaking accessibility planning, however, its use is not mandatory.
What is the latest situation with the use of Accession?
The Accession software is now in widespread use across Local Authorities, and, following performance improvements made earlier this year, is proving to be helpful in the development of the evidence base to support accessibility planning. The MVA Helpdesk is available to deal with problems with the software, however, they are unable to deal with issues on how to use the software (although training can be arranged by contacting MVA directly), or on issues relating to the data used with Accession.
DfT would find it useful to get feedback on how Local Transport Authorities are using Accession, and whether you are still experiencing any problems with this software.
Is there an appropriate forum for discussing with other authorities how Accession can be used?
It is suggested that the correct forum for such issues is the Accession Forum provided by MVA. However, whether this will be used by a critical mass is an additional issue. An Accession User Group Conference also took place in London in October, and this may become an annual event.
How can I get the data I need?
Data on public transport networks is available from Thales at nptdr.datamanager@thalesgroup.com, or may be obtained locally (e.g. from bus operators). The DfT has already provided local authorities with CDs containing centrally available data sets that are likely to be of use in accessibility planning. These should be validated by local authorities from their own knowledge and information. Details of any identified inaccuracies should be forwarded by e-mail to Thales at nptdr.datamanager@thalesgroup.com.
The maps of accessibility generated by Accession show that some areas (particularly rural ones) appear to have little or no reported accessibility even though there are services in those areas. Why is this?
Accessibility planning mapping relies on public transport routes and timetable data, such as that created for use in Traveline and Transport Direct, which should be at the level of ‘all stops’. On roads where there are no marked stops, there are two types of NaPTAN stop that should be used — either Custom & Practice or Hail-and-Ride (both of which need to be coded separately in both directions of travel).
In the absence of these types of stop on roads without marked stops, Accession
and other accessibility planning tools may not recognise the availability
of public transport for residents or visitors to such areas.
If this situation applies in parts of your own local authority area, then
the important action to take as soon as possible is to contact the relevant
person in your local authority who is responsible for updating public
transport data, and request that they start a process of creating new
NaPTAN stops to cover these sections of roads in the most appropriate
way—and to add these stops to the route and timetable descriptions of
the services which pass (and use) them. Please also inform Thales of the situation by e-mail at nptdr.datamanager@thalesgroup.com.
Will my authority be penalised in the LTP assessment for not using the Accession software to undertake the modelling and mapping?
The DfT recommends use of Accession as the tool provides a number of advantages over existing products. However its use is not mandatory and a range of other products exist that could be utilised during the accessibility planning process (see Technical Annex to the Accessibility Planning Guidance). Local authorities can choose which software or assessment methodologies they use, provided they can demonstrate that they are applied in a systematic, rigorous and consistent manner and produce output that is a useful contributor to the planning process.
The assessment of the accessibility strategy in the LTP will not be influenced by the choice of modeling or mapping tools.
Have any thresholds been applied to the size of employers and shops, e.g. are only workplaces with a certain number of employees or supermarkets above a certain size being considered?
The supermarket locations are derived from a commercial product which contains some 7,000 supermarket retail locations. We are not aware of any specific size cut-offs although it is fair to say that the data source mainly relates to chain outlets. We are aware of the possible limitations of the data, e.g. limited coverage of independent stores and also that supermarket outlets on garage forecourts are not included. We will be discussing with the data provider possible ways of extending the coverage; of course authorities are free to use local data sources for their own indicators where they deem these to be more appropriate.
Potential workplace destinations have been derived based on Census employment patterns. For the national indicator runs these are assumed to be the centroids of those super output areas that are estimates to have at least 500 employees.
Can you provide an update on the data used to calculate the core indicators?
The data which DfT have used to calculate the 2004 core accessibility indicators was the most consistent available on a national basis. We have only received limited feedback from local authorities regarding the quality of the data, although we would not be surprised if there were differences when compared with data available locally. DfT are currently looking at whether there are more accurate datasets which can be used for the calculation of the 2005 indicators, in conjunction with relevant other government departments. For these reasons, we would not expect that core and local indicators will be identical, due to the use of different datasets in their calculation, and local authorities are free to use relevant data for the calculation of their local indicators.
Core indicators will not be used to judge local authorities' performance, and this has been made clear to authorities. Local Authorities will be measured against their locally derived indicators and targets.
Are any other data sources likely to be available, particularly relating to food shops?
The DfT has circulated a CD with the data used for the calculation of the national access to work and access to supermarket indicators to local transport authorities, along with the core indicators. The supermarket data has been purchased for use by local authorities under licence; authorities will be required to sign up to a licence in order to use the data, and a copy of this licence has been issued with the CD.
Will DfT be providing local authorities with an updated data CD?
The DfT are currently obtaining updated data sets for use in the calculation of the 2005 core indicators. It is likely that this data will then be made available to local authorities.
Will the National Public Transport Data Repository be updated?
The content of the National Public Transport Data Repository has been updated, with the snapshot week being that beginning 10 October 2005. Access to the repository is via a login and password, which can be obtained from nptdr.datamanager@thalesgroup.com.
I have been using regularly updated transport data supplied to me by our passenger transport unit. Would DfT prefer us to use the data from the snapshot week so that baseline data can be linked to a set week of a year?
DfT has used the snapshot week (10th October 2005) data for the calculation of the national core accessibility indicators, and local authorities can also use this data, if required. This week has been specifically chosen, as most areas had changed to their winter timetable.
DfT are, however, aware that many local authorities have been using their own data for their own accessibility planning work and this is completely acceptable. There is no requirement for local authorities to use the same snapshot week if they are using their own local data, although the repository may be useful in enabling authorities to access neighbouring authorities' data to take account of cross-boundary trips. For the purposes of calculating your own targets in the future, it may be worth considering using data from around the same time of year for each calculation to ensure consistency.
Marking of Accessibility Strategies and LTPs
There does not appear to be any consistency between LTP markings/funding for Shire authorities and Metropolitan authorities.
Since the same assessment criteria are used for both, there should be no
inconsistency of either marking or funding between Shire authorities and
Metropolitan authorities. Please note that the APR assessment looks at
how well the plan is being delivered.
When will the feedback on LTPs be provided? Will
authorities be given enough time to take any comments on board before
they need to finalise their LTPs?
Engagement will continue between local authorities and Government Offices/DfT.
The decision letters are likely to contain feedback, but views from Government
Offices (as opposed to assessment markings) will be available before the
settlement letters.
Will authorities be given an advance guide as
to how their LTPs will be scored, so that they know where to concentrate
their efforts?
The LTP2 guidance sets out the criteria and sub-criteria for the plan quality
assessment. The DfT may circulate more information about the 2006 assessments
of target impact and delivery this summer.
The settlement letters don't provide much information
on how the content of the LTPs has been marked — the authorities represented
on the Action Learning Programme advised that they would find it useful
to be told why things were good and bad.
DfT/Government Offices have circulated the proforma used for the assessment
of last year's APRs to authorities and the DfT intends to do the same
for LTP2 assessments in, or in the wake of, the decision letters.
Would it be possible to show scores for the accessibility
strategies (and in particular, how much of the total marking is allocated
to the accessibility strategy), to enable the LTA to use this information
when engaging with partners?
Government plans are to indicate how the DfT feel authorities' plans rated
on each of the plan quality assessment criteria and sub-criteria (in the
LTP2 guidance). A couple of these relate closely to accessibility.
For accessibility targets and indicators, it
may be that an authority chooses to deal with a different problem for
each of the five years of the LTP, e.g. for year one, the authority may
choose to work on ‘access to hospitals’, then concentrate on a particular
geographic area in year two, then on ‘access to education’ in year three,
etc. Would it be acceptable for authorities to set different targets for
each year, to be monitored against the next years’ APR?
There is no problem in principle with having different target variables
for different years in LTP2s.
Is it still necessary to handle rural and urban
areas differently within the accessibility strategy?
Section 7.34 of the accessibility planning guidance states that ‘When
reporting against the core indicators, strategic local performance indicators,
and locally defined targets through their APRs, authorities should report
separately the impact on rural and urban areas. They can do this by providing
a split at local (ward) level using the new rural and urban area classifications
now available on the National Statistics geography webpages.’
What advice have Other Government Departments issued on accessibility planning?
Links to all the guidance produced by Other Government Departments on Accessibility Planning is available on this website and on the DfT’s accessibility planning website (www.accessibilityplanning.gov.uk). Their guidance responds to a recommendation in the SEU report 'Making the Connections: Final Report on Transport and Social Exclusion', which said that guidance on accessibility planning should be issued not only by DfT, but also by Other Government Departments.
Working in partnership with other service providers and decision-makers is key to improving accessibility. The production of this guidance indicates that Government is taking a joint approach at a national level, and is intended to help local authorities make the necessary links locally.
This guidance has been produced by the following departments and has been sent to relevant organisations:
