Measuring and benchmarking user satisfaction with transportation

Increasing attention is being given to the ability of highway departments and metropolitan planning bodies to demonstrate the value for money of scarce public funds. Over time, this has led to a shift from accounting for the inputs to the system through to what is delivered. Ultimately however, the delivery of transportation improvements is in the eye of the beholder – the public. It is therefore critical to connect the information provided on the performance of the transportation system to the public‟s satisfaction with the outcomes of these interventions. This paper describes an initiative developed independently by local highways authorities in England which covers all aspects of investment except for inter-city motorway routes and rail investment (where they only have an advisory and not a management role). Despite there being no mandate for public satisfaction measures to be collected, a subscription based initiative has now been running for five years with over half of all highways authorities now engaged. This provides a rich time-series data set of satisfaction measures and information on citizen preferences. The paper presents information about the data collection methods, the findings and how the data is being used in benchmarking. It also extends the discussion into the next phase of the work which is examining the extent to which investment can be linked to system performance and in turn to user satisfaction. If successful this initiative could change the landscape for the incorporation of user preferences in transportation planning and management.