6 Data Collection
6 Data Collection
Key Achievements
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6.1.1 The technical enhancements of TMfS are the principal focus of the model development. However, the overall quality of any transport model relies on the data on which it is built. In recognition of this, an extensive Data Collection Contract was commissioned by Transport Scotland, designed to act as a platform for the model development process. This chapter provides an overview of data collection work undertaken in the last year.
6.2 2007 Annual Report Commitments
6.2.1 Table 6.1 provides an overview of the data collection-related commitments contained within the 2007 Annual Report:
Table 6.1 Data Collection Objectives
Objectives |
Report on data collection in Year 2 Annual Report Commission the Data Collection Contract Ongoing data collection |
6.2.2 The remainder of this chapter reflects on how these objectives have been met and discusses further developments throughout 2008.
6.3 The Data Collection Contract
6.3.1 An action from the 2007 Annual Report was to commission the Data Collection Contract and the relevant consultants were duly appointed in late 2007. It should be noted that while the contract has been let with TMfS in mind, it is not exclusively dedicated to the model. In particular, the appointed contractors can be directed to carry out work for other Transport Scotland Directorates. In addition, the data collection contractors are not guaranteed work by the terms of the contract, thus ensuring that only data which are actually required are collected. These two factors will help to ensure that the contract will deliver value for money.
6.3.2 The contract partitioned Scotland into three broad geographical regions, as follows:
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6.3.3 A separate Data Collection Consultant has been commissioned for each geographical area, as follows:
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6.3.4 The contract is designed to ensure that the possibility of key data collection requirements not being resourced is minimised. If the nominated area consultant is unable to resource a particular survey, then a ‘call-off’ is made to the reserve consultant for that area. Similarly, if the initial call-off consultant is unable to resource the work programme, then the third consultants can be approached to carry out the collection.
6.3.5 An annual progress meeting is held between the DCC and the TMfS Team to discuss progress to date and forthcoming workloads.
6.4 Data Collection Priorities
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6.4.1 The 2007 Annual Report detailed the initial analysis of data gaps and the summer 2007 collection of data from stakeholders throughout Scotland. Having collated and assessed the data available for TMfS in late 2007, the following areas were identified as primary data collection requirements for TMfS:07:
6.4.2 A number of additional data collection requirements became evident, particularly in light of the commissioning of the Forth Regional model. These were:
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6.4.3 The collection of any additional rail-based data was not deemed necessary due to the relatively extensive coverage of the National Rail Travel Survey.
6.4.4 The remainder of this chapter considers each of these aspects of data collection in turn.
6.5 TMfS:07 Data Collection to date
Inter-urban Bus Occupancy Surveys
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6.5.1 The bus-based data collection efforts were focused on collecting origin-destination information for inter-urban journeys into and out of:
6.5.2 The selection of these five cities ensured that many key inter-urban movements in Scotland were captured. For example, while the survey programme picked up movements between Dundee and Edinburgh, it also included movements between Edinburgh and places such as Dunfermline, Livingston and Stirling.
6.5.3 ‘Inter-urban’ in this context focused on movements between major towns and cities (e.g. Edinburgh-Glasgow), as well as journeys from the periphery of cities into the city centres (e.g. Bishopbriggs-Glasgow). The methodology adopted was to survey corridors as opposed to specific towns, thus providing a robust estimation of overall flows into each city.
6.5.4 The methodology adopted was to:
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6.5.5 This methodology was piloted on the A803 Bishopbriggs to Glasgow corridor to ensure that it produced sufficiently robust results and then rolled out fully thereafter.
6.5.6 Figures 6.1 to 6.5 show the corridors on which the bus data was collected for all five cities. Appendix C provides a list of a selected cordon points on each of the corridors surveyed and lists of actual bus services surveyed can be provided on request.
Figure 6.1 Bus Passenger Origin-Destination Surveys — Aberdeen
Figure 6.2 Bus Passenger Origin-Destination Surveys — Dundee
Figure 6.3 Bus Passenger Origin-Destination Surveys — Edinburgh
Figure 6.4 Bus Passenger Origin-Destination Surveys — Glasgow
Figure 6.5 Bus Passenger Origin-Destination Surveys — Inverness
6.5.7 The survey programme was successful and has created a bank of high-quality bus origin-destination and journey purpose data.
Bus based Park and Ride Surveys
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6.5.8 Park and Ride (P&R) has become an increasingly popular mode of travel to work in recent years but, as with inter-urban bus travel, there is lack of passenger origin and destination data. P&R surveys were therefore conducted at the following sites:
6.5.9 The methodology was different from that used in the bus surveys. Passengers were given a postcard questionnaire at the P&R site and asked to return it to the enumerator when they arrived back at the site that evening. The surveys were conducted between 7am and 7pm and a passenger boarding count was undertaken so as to factor up the survey sample.
6.5.10 The survey undertaken at Newcraighall used a slightly different form, as it combined rail and bus P&R.
6.5.11 The Park and Ride surveys were successful, providing a good source of new data on Park and Ride usage.
Roadside Interviews
6.5.12 A small number of RSIs were undertaken early in the programme, which were designed to fill gaps in the existing TMfS:05a coverage. These were twelve hour surveys carried out in and around Livingston and Dumfries, as well as on the A82 at the Erskine Bridge and A78 at Wemyss Bay.
Ferry Data and Port Access RSIs
6.5.13 As noted in Chapter 5, a representation of all Scottish ferry services was included in TMfS:05a. This included supply-side information only and did not include robust estimates of ferry patronage. To address this, a number of RSIs have been undertaken on the trunk roads leading to and from the main Scottish ports, so as to capture ferry bound traffic. RSIs were initially scheduled for:
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6.5.14 The A9, A830 and A835 RSIs were carried out in late April 2007. However, police permission could not be obtained to survey on the A87 and A83 before the spring 2007 data collection window closed. These RSIs may be conducted at a later date to feed into future versions of the model.
6.5.15 Movements to and from a number of Clyde ferry ports (including Gourock, McInroe Point and Wemyss Bay) will, to some extent, be picked up in the A78 RSI mentioned above. However, the proportion of ferry-bound traffic in the sample is likely to be smaller than that of RSIs such as that on the A830. Ferry services from Oban are also partially captured by three RSIs in and around Oban conducted by Argyll and Bute Council in 2005.
6.6.1 As discussed in Chapter 5, the Forth Regional Model is considerably more detailed than TMfS and is thus more data-hungry. A number of different elements of data collection were undertaken to feed into this model.
Stated Preference Survey
6.6.2 There is a Ministerial commitment to consider the possibility of introducing High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes onto the Replacement Forth Crossing and, TMfS (the Forth Regional Model), will be used to test the impact of such lanes. It was agreed that before such a variable could be tested using TMfS, the willingness of people to shift modes from ‘car driver’ to ‘car sharing’ or ‘public transport’ would need to be established. Stated preference surveys provide the most effective method of deriving such parameters as they test peoples’ responsiveness (i.e. their preferences) for a given set of scenarios. The survey was designed and initially piloted amongst a sample of travellers and was thereafter rolled-out more fully. This was followed by a more comprehensive survey of over 500 commuters across Scotland. In addition, they undertook analysis of the Scottish Household Survey Travel Diary data, to determine vehicle occupancy by journey purpose and time of day.
Forth Area Infrastructure Review
6.6.3 Prior to the development of the Forth Model, a comprehensive review of all modelled junctions was undertaken, addressing issues such as location, design and signal timings. This ensures that the model is as representative of conditions ‘on the ground’ as possible.
Data Availability
6.6.4 All data collected is likely to be valuable to a number of other departments / directorates of central government, as well as the Regional Transport Partnerships and Local Authorities. We have attempted to make the data as widely available as possible.
6.7 Approved Planning Policy Inputs (APPI)
6.7.1 As part of the development of TELMoS:07, Approved Planning Policy Inputs (APPI) were requested and collected from all Local Authorities.
6.8.1 A number of other key datasets were collected during 2008. These data were primarily used to inform the development of TMfS:07 and included:
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6.9 Data Collection Contract use by Other Parties
6.9.1 This report has made it clear throughout, that an important element of TMfS is encouraging effective government through joint working and the realisation of synergies. One area where this approach has been clearly demonstrated is through the use of the TMfS Data Collection facility by various other Directorates of Transport Scotland / the Scottish Government. The key benefit of this synergy is that it has permitted such Directorates to avoid lengthy and costly procurement programmes, thus allowing data collection priorities to be advanced quickly. It has also ensured that there is an awareness of what data are being collected by other areas of central government and provided them with access to these data once collected.
6.9.2 Key organisations that have made use of the TMfS Data Collection Contract to date include:
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6.10.1 Our data collection work has contributed significantly towards TMfS:07 and the Forth Regional Model, ensuring that these tools are concurrent with the needs of the User Group. In general terms, robust data provides a solid foundation for analysis and is an essential component in making efficient decisions. More specifically, the data collected for TMfS assisted in creating a tool capable of contributing towards assessments of how transport and planning schemes contribute to the Government’s Purpose.
6.10.2 In addition, this data collection contributes towards the Strategic Priority of ‘Effective Government’. The availability of these data to all Directorates of Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government, as well as to the TMfS User Group, helps ensure efficient use of public money and will enable more robust appraisals and future decision making.