Technical guidance on monitoring the LTP2 mandatory indicators
Contents Section 1 - Overview...... 3 Section 2 - Definitions for Mandatory Local Transport Plan Indicators...... 5 LTP1: Accessibility ...... 7 LTP2: Change in area wide road traffic ...... 9 LTP3: Cycling indicator ...... 10 LTP4: Mode Share of Journeys to School ...... 12 LTP5: Bus punctuality...... 14 LTP6: Changes in peak period traffic flows to urban centres...... 16 LTP7: Congestion (Average Vehicle Delay) ...... 19 LTP8: Air quality...... 21 Section 3 - Supporting the Mandatory Indicators...... 25 FIGURE 1: A POSSIBLE STRUCTURE FOR LTP TARGETS...... 28 ANNEX 1...... 31
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TECHNICAL GUIDANCE ON MONITORING THE LTP2 MANDATORY INDICATORS
December 2004
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Section 1 - Overview Introduction Local Transport Plan (LTP) authorities are required to report on up to seventeen mandatory indicators, three of which are mandatory for only some authorities. Nine indicators are consistent with Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs), with a further eight (of which five are mandatory for all authorities) being specific to LTPs. Table 1 provides a summary of the mandatory indicators for the second round of LTPs. Table 1: List of Mandatory Indicators for the Second Round of LTPs BVPI96 Principal Road condition. BVPI97a Non-Principal Classified Road condition. BVPI97b Unclassified Road condition. BVPI99 (x) Total killed and seriously injured casualties. BVPI99 (y) Child killed and seriously injured casualties. BVPI99 (z) Total slight casualties. BVPI102 Public transport patronage - based on the BVPI related to total bus patronage, but authorities may adjust the indicator to include other local public transport modes. BVPI104 Satisfaction with local bus services. BVPI187 Footway condition. LTP1 An accessibility target. LTP2 Change in area wide road traffic mileage. LTP3 Cycling trips (annualised index). LTP4 Mode share of journeys to school. LTP5 A bus punctuality indicator. LTP61 Changes in peak period traffic flows to urban centres. LTP71 Congestion (vehicle delay). LTP81 An air quality target.
1 Mandatory for only some authorities - see detailed indicator descriptions for specific requirements. Guidance on methodologies This document provides technical guidance for all seventeen mandatory indicators for the second round of LTPs. Where the indicators are covered in existing guidance (e.g. Best Value indicators) then reference is made to such guidance. For other indicators (i.e. LTP1 to LTP8), specific methodological guidance is provided in this document. DfT has published further general and specific monitoring guidance. See Section 4 for further details.
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Authorities are reminded of the importance of taking care in implementing their monitoring methodologies in order to reduce measurement errors, providing the means for a robust and meaningful assessment of year-on-year changes. Baseline and horizon years A baseline of 2003/04 and a horizon year of 2010/11 should be used where possible, unless stated otherwise in this guidance. However, it will be acceptable to use a baseline of 2004/05 in new Local Transport Plans if there are technical reasons why it is more robust than 2003/04 information. The Department is making data for indicators LTP2 and LTP7 available to authorities, although authorities may supplement these with their own data as stated in the specific guidance for each of these indicators. Whilst the Department has provided some data which might be useful for indicator LTP1, authorities may need to add to these with their own local data. Authorities should already have been collecting data on indicator LTP3 during the first LTP round. For the other non-BVPI indicators, it is recognised that authorities may not currently hold information. For these, it will be acceptable for fully worked-up targets with 2005/06 baselines to be submitted in the final March 2006 LTPs. Authorities should indicate provisionally in the July 2005 LTPs at least the standards, or degree of change, they expect to achieve over the plan period. Further information on baseline years for certain BVPIs is provided elsewhere in this guidance. Relevant methodological research being conducted by DfT (i) Local Travel Survey DfT is currently conducting research to develop a robust and cost-effective household travel survey toolkit for use at local level. Although no mandatory indicators will be dependent on the usage of such a survey, it will be possible to use such surveys to derive complimentary information for some of the indicators including school travel and bus satisfaction. It is hoped that the toolkit can be rolled out for use during Spring 2005 and further guidance on the potential use of the survey will be issued at that stage. (ii) Cycle Monitoring Using Automatic Cycle Counters Measuring cycle usage has been identified as a particularly difficult area for monitoring at local and national levels. The Department has been conducting pilot trials to assess the feasibility of developing a representative local/national automatic counter network. The pilot results have proved inconclusive and have identified the need for further work to be carried out before a decision can be made whether to proceed with implementing the counter network. It is unlikely that any network could be in place before financial year 2006/07. Further information on this work will be published in due course. Documentation Authorities should keep internal records of all the data and methodologies used in calculating the mandatory indicators. These should be in a form that clearly sets out the particular steps, methods and assumptions made. In particular, changes in methodology and procedures for dealing with revisions should also be documented. The data used for calculating particular indicators should also be held in a form that will allow analysis to be replicated at a subsequent point in time. Authorities should be prepared to provide copies of such documentation to DfT/Government Offices as part of LTP submissions or on request.
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Section 2 - Definitions for Mandatory Local Transport Plan Indicators Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs) The following BVPIs must be reported in all second local transport plans: