Dear All - on behalf of Mark Smith from Plymouth City Council:
The National Highways and Transport (NHT) Network would like to advise universities of an important data resource which it intends to make available for conducting academic research. This consists of a database of responses to the annual NHT Public Satisfaction Survey, which is used by many local authorities across England and Wales to gauge user perceptions of local transport services. Topics covered include public transport, walking and cycling facilities, road safety, road condition, traffic management, rights of way and community transport/DRT. Background information is also collected on demographics and use of transport.
The main characteristics of the database are:
* A total of 105 highways authorities have taken part, including up to 95 in any one year.
* A total of 243,845 transport users have responded to the survey over 4 years.
* More than 40 million responses to individual questions are held.
* The database consists of over 87 million records.
The results from this survey are currently used in summarised form to inform decision making in the public sector; however the potential exists to carry out deeper analysis or to capture national trends by means of a rigorous academic study. This may be by analysis of the survey responses in their own right or in conjunction with other data sources such as national performance datasets or bespoke data collected by the user. It may particularly suit a student looking to define a subject for PhD research. The NHT would therefore welcome proposals as to how this data might be exploited to the mutual benefit of academic and public institutions.
Whilst no funding is available to facilitate research, NHT members may be able to support any analysis work carried out on the data by means of advice, supervision or networking with practitioners. A forum for presentation of research is also available in the shape of the annual NHT Conference, held in London during the autumn of each year.
The NHT network is a means by which local authority transport practitioners share best practice and collect and disseminate comparative data on performance. It works with survey administrator measure2improve and with Ipsos MORI to produce the annual public satisfaction survey, and also oversees national and regional benchmarking initiatives.
To find out more about the survey and to see summarised results, visit www.nhtsurvey.org
If you wish to discuss this opportunity, please contact:
Mark Smith ([log in to unmask]; 01752 304093)
Jennie Simons ([log in to unmask]; 01443 832163)
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