The Use of Accessibility Indicators in
Planning and Investment

Derek Halden

DHC Loop Connections
29 October 2017
E: derek.halden@loopconnect.net@derekhaldenAccessibility Measures as
Dashboard for Progress
GDP was contrived in a time of deep crisis….ananswer to the great challenges of the 1930s…..
we need an array of indicators to track things
that make life worthwhile…… the scarcest goodof all “time”
Utopia for Realists pp122/123 Rutger Bregman 2017 (or 2014 in the Netherlands)

A Social Model of Accessibility
Hierarchies
Requirements
Measuring
what is valued

Organisingsolutions
Incentives forpolicy goals

Individuals

Communities

DesiresObligations

DHC 2006 – Access, Information and Flexibility. The Future of Retail Transport. British Council of Shopping Centres

Resolving Accessibility – Mapping
Policy and Organising Delivery
efficiency
Longstanding legislationand strong policy drivers

opportunity
equitycompetitiveness
Organisational anddelivery capability

Connected,enabled people
and places

viability
sustainability

Indicators in theory andpracticeHalden 1996 – Managing Uncertainty in Transport Policy. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers
Farrington, Halden et al 2003 - Settlements, Services and Access. HM Treasury, The Scottish Executive, The
Countryside Agency, The Welsh Assembly Government

Local Authority Transport Plans
in a National Policy Context• Planning and Investment– Financial incentives through investment
programmes (LTP, LSTF, access fund, smart)– Transport appraisal – social opportunity,equity/distribution, stated/acceptability,expressed/business case (used tactically)

Local
assessment

OptionAppraisal

Plan
preparation

Performance,monitoring

Halden 2011 - The Use and Abuse of Accessibility Measures in UK Passenger Transport Planning.
http://dhc1.co.uk/content/useandabuseonline.pdfhttp://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/environmental-audit-committee/news/transportand-accessibility-report/

Stakeholder involvement– Strategic national indicators based on travel
time (2003-2017) www.accesstoservices.info– Several hundred local indicators based on cost,time/scheduling, information/training,safety/security, physical/infrastructure,environment/quality (rarely followed through)Evidence of accessibility change• Approach

Strategicassessment

National GB Indicators• Trip purposes– Jobs, GP/health centres, hospitals (by service offered andnumber of patients), education (primary, secondary, further,higher), shop, post office, bank, leisure, park, pharmacy, legal
services, pub, transport nodes (bus , rail, junctions)• Opportunity measure(Ai = ∑ j =1 O j exp − λ .cij
j=J)

– Number of opportunities within time thresholds appropriate forthe trip purpose– Continuous measure with λ calibrated using NTS• Catchments by population(Ai = ∑ j =1 Pj exp − λ .cij
j=J– Segments - Car/non car available, educational attainment,poverty, employment status
DHC and University of Westminster 2005 - Developing and Piloting Accessibility Planning. Final Report for DfT
DHC 2007 – Access to Essential Services. National Consumer Council)

National GB Indicators – Learningfrom Practice• Sensitivity to change– Accessibility changes more rapidly due to people
and places than transport• Keep it simple– Why composite indicators of opportunities,utilities, total travel time, etc did not get far• Investing in capabilities– Evidence linked with accountability - e.g. equity– Investors and funders - follow the money
DHC and University of Westminster 2003 - Developing and Piloting Accessibility Planning. Resource Audits Working Paper 3
DHC and University of Westminster 2003 - Developing and Piloting Accessibility Planning. Needs Audit Working Paper 2

Linking Measures of Access to aDelivery Objective• All accessibility measures are imperfect andcontext specific– There are many variables that can be measured –and many that can be ignored – so accessibility
analysis can produce almost any result by choosing
what to measure and what to ignore– However most measures are informative andmultiple measures can be used in combination– Some measures enable successful business models
and these are the most useful ones in practice
DHC and University of Westminster 2005 – Developing and Piloting Accessibility Planning. DfT
DHC and Abley 2014 – Neighbourhood Accessibility Assessment. Land Transport New ZealandDelivery Aims and Types of Indicator• Utilising opportunity - Time, cost, safety,
comfort, and quality of access to opportunities(jobs, education, leisure, etc)
• Securing Equity - Ratio of access to opportunity
for social groups (incl. car/non car)
• Enabling people and places - Walk access tolocal facilities, local connections, skills etc.
• System level connections – Expanding scope,organising sharing (e.g. freight consolidation,shared DRT)
Halden 1999 - Accessibility Analysis Concepts and their Application to transport Policy. Transport projects, Programmes and Policies
Halden, D; Jones, P; Wixey, S; 2005 . Measuring accessibility as experienced by different socially disadvantage groups,

Growing the Access Economy• Case studies in measuring what is valued anddelivering successful business models– Value from abundance – not just scarcity - throughcase studies in access by walking– A stronger focus for government in wealthdistribution through case studies in incentives forequitable access to opportunity– Where a social model of delivery is driven by
enforcing regulatory requirements, organisingcommunities, and enabling individuals – from casestudies in auditing and enabling access
Halden 2014 - Shaping the Future – Case Studies in UK Accessibility Planning
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352146514000295

Land Use Planning Business Model
What services can bereached by walking
in 400, 800, 1600
and 3200 metres?

What does it cost to deliver
no net detriment to access?

What is the ratio ofcar to non car accessto essential services?
Disappointing outcomes fromcomplex accessibility indicators

Halden 2002 - Using accessibility measures to integrate land use and transport policy in Edinburgh and the Lothians.
vol. 9, issue 4, 313-324

Access as an Indicator of a
Sustainable Place• Walk/Journey times toa basket of services– Sustainable Cities Index- FFTF– State of the Countryside• Travel time/cost
factored by frequencyof trip

“Who Pays for Accessible Services?
• The travel time and cost of access isvalued when accountabilities of service
providers are clear– Successful delivery for employability,
pharmacies, hospitals/medical centres,legal services/courts, retail centres….

• Indicators in practice– Times, costs, distances, turnover, activity– Provider willingness to pay for access– Customers willingness to accept
Halden 2003 - Accessibility Analysis Concepts and their Application to transport Policy. Transport projects,Programmes and Policies (Pearman, Mackie and Nellthorp)

Reframing the Personal, Social andCommercial Value of Access• Resolving the value ofaccessibility throughpersonal accounts– Everybody is an expert in theirown access– Link personal preferences withsocial goals to make the mostof capabilities– Alternative currencies tosecure social benefits –“access points”

Expanding Successful BusinessModels• Measure what is valued• Identify who is responsible for incentives for
success and penalties for failure• Indicators and measures to date:– Largely cost and time for target people groups andcategories of service provision– Social choices resolved by budget holder– Personal choices resolved through accounts• Towards trust in accessibility indicators?

The Use of Accessibility Indicators inPlanning and Investment

Derek Halden

DHC Loop Connections
29 October 2017
E: derek.halden@loopconnect.net@derekhalden