Accessibility & User Needs in Transport for Sustainable Urban Environments - AUNT-SUE
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Civil Environmental and Geomatic Eng
Abstract
The proposal integrates the expertise of the research centres and project partners in transport policies and planning, design, operations and evaluation. The UK government, European Commission and other agencies rightly emphasise the importance of socially inclusive and sustainable interventions. As yet, however, there is a dearth of comprehensive 'toolkits' and resources to support those who are working to reduce social exclusion in journey environments. The shared vision is to produce rigorous methodologies for sustainable policies and practices that will deliver effective socially inclusive design and operation in transport and the public realm from macro down to micro level. Three Core Projects will develop decision-support tools that will establish benchmarks and incorporate inclusion into policies, and support the design and operation of journey environments and transport facilities. A real-world but controlled 'Testbed' facility will allow these to be piloted in the context of the policy intentions and constraints that shape implementation. Solutions will then be tested and transferred to other Case Study areas and sites. Phase 2 of AUNT-SUE will build on the suite of tools developed in Phase I and apply these to intensive case studies of transport interchanges, nodes and development areas. This will both develop and test techniques to design accessible journey environments (routes and facilities) and transport provision and planning, and consult on these with people who have been identified as socially excluded from travel. Three inter-linked research modules will be validated through integrated case studies outlined below, utilising a GIS-based platform supported by CAD, relational databases and both quantitative and qualitative social surveys.
Organisations
- University College London (Lead Research Organisation)
- BRIGHTON & HOVE CITY COUNCIL (Collaboration)
- Bristol City Council (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- London Borough of Lambeth Council (Collaboration)
- Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Sammie CAD Ltd (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL (Collaboration)
- Transport for London (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- CCD Design & Ergonomics (Collaboration)
- London Transport Users Committee (Collaboration)
- British Transport Police (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- London Borough of Tower Hamlets (Collaboration)
- Transport for Greater Manchester (Collaboration)
- British Urban Regeneration Association (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Greater Manchester Combined Authority (Project Partner)
- Brighton and Hove City Council (Project Partner)
- Hertfordshire County Council (Project Partner)
- Docklands Light Railway (Project Partner)
- Tower Hamlets Council (Project Partner)
- London Borough of Camden (Project Partner)
- CCD Design & Ergonomics (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- London TravelWatch (Project Partner)
Publications
Mackett R
(2008)
AMELIA: A tool to make transport policies more socially inclusive
in Transport Policy
Mackett R
(2008)
AMELIA: making streets more accessible for people with mobility difficulties
in URBAN DESIGN International
Titheridge H
(2009)
Assessing the extent of transport social exclusion among the elderly
in Journal of Transport and Land Use
Roger Mackett (Author)
(2012)
Consulting older and disabled people about their local accessibility needs
Roger Mackett (Author)
(2008)
Costing increases in walking accessibility for people who are socially excluded
Roger Mackett (Author)
(2009)
Evaluating increases in accessibility for people who are socially excluded
Helena Titheridge (Author)
(2009)
From footway design to the street environment: removing the barriers to walking
Roger Mackett (Author)
(2009)
How AMELIA helps to design more inclusive urban areas
Roger Mackett (Author)
(2010)
Increasing accessibility cost-effectively for people who are socially excluded
Achuthan K
(2012)
Mapping accessibility differences for the whole journey and for socially excluded groups of people
in Journal of Maps
| Description | The purpose of this stream of work was to develop a software tool that could be used to examine the impact of local transport plans and policies on social inclusion. The tool AMELIA (A Methodology for Enhancing Life by Increasing Accessibility) is a user-friendly policy-oriented interface to a GIS (Geographical Information System). The key element of the phase 2 was to use AMELIA for consultation with community groups to see whether it reflected their views and whether it could be used for community consultation. In AMELIA the user is presented with a set of possible policy actions relevant to the policy objective being considered, and then to quantify and map the effects of policy actions to help the user to assess which is the most effective. AMELIA is then run and the results examined, possibly in the light of the cost of implementing the policy action. AMELIA is run iteratively using different values for the policy action or other policy actions until a satisfactory solution has been found. Consultations using AMELIA were held with a group containing elderly people and people with disabilities based in St Albans in Hertfordshire, and with two groups of young people: one aged 12 to 15 at living in East London and the other aged 16 to 19 in South London. In the consultation in St Albans, a variety of techniques were used, including discussion about barriers to movement and the priorities for action by the local authority seen by the group, and the use of three imaginary journeys made using photographs taken by the research team linked to a GIS map projected directly through AMELIA running on a laptop computer. Five policy actions that came out of the consultation were tested with AMELIA and then fed back to the group at a later meeting. In addition the key elements of a website and a map that would show how to access various parts of St Albans for those with different disabilities was developed using the priorities and constraints identified by the group. The objective of the consultation with the 12-15 year olds was to establish the types of places the young people went to in order to socialise, the places they would like to go to but cannot get to, why they could not, and then what could be done to overcome the barriers. Discussions involving the whole group and small groups were held to collect information about where they went and where they would like to go. From these, the barriers to access were established. AMELIA was used to establish the distance of each of the current activities from their home and school, and the number of young people living within distance bands of the various proposed new facilities. This is the subject of on-going work to establish improvements to the access for this age group. The meeting in Croydon began with a presentation about AMELIA, with a demonstration relevant to their interests, the participants were invited to present information about their use of the local environment with the participants using the software via interactive hardware and software linked direct to AMELIA. The main finding from this consultation was that the barriers for members of this group were mainly the attitudes of other people. The substantive outputs from this stream of work are: 1. The software tool AMELIA 2. The development of the data base and the methodology to set it up for use with AMELIA 3. The information system to generate policy options to meet the accessibility needs of various groups 4. Development of a range of methods for consulting with members of groups ranging from young people to elderly people with little knowledge of computers and to people with visual impairment 5. Engagement with practitioners and policymakers from various local authorities 6. Engagement with academics interested in similar topics at conferences and other events. |
| Exploitation Route | This project has developed methods that can be used by transport and urban planners to improve the accessibility of areas for particular groups in the community such as older people, people with disabilities, and children. It has also developed an approach to consultation that helps to ensure that the views of these community groups can be incorporated into the planning process, using the approach to ensure that the views of older and disabled people were included in the St Albans Public Realm Delivery Strategy. This research has shown how the impacts of transport and planning policies can be explored in terms of the impacts of changes to the local environment on various groups in the community such as older people, people with disabilities, and children. The findings can be used to invest in improvements to accessibility in the most cost-effective way. In addition the methods developed in the project for consultation with groups in the community can be used by others to help develop accessible environments. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Environment,Healthcare,Transport |
| URL | http://www.aunt-sue.info/toolkit/amelia/ |
| Description | The written report on the consultation with a group of older and disabled people in St Albans carried out during the project and the map of the barriers that had been identified by the group, were presented at a meeting of the St Albans Access Group with some staff from St Albans City Council present. The work was subsequently discussed at a meeting of the St Albans City Forum in December 2010. This is a consultative body that provides an opportunity for the St Albans City Council to communicate with representatives of community groups, stakeholders, businesses and members of the public. The councillors present recommended that the written report be referred to the planning department of the City Council and to Hertfordshire County Council, which is the transport authority for the area, with a view to the implementation of the recommendations. The city planners decided to implement the recommendations as part of the the St Albans Public Realm Delivery Strategy to improve accessibility in the City Centre. A meeting was held between the research team, the consultants developing the St Albans Public Realm Delivery Strategy and a member of the St Albans City planning staff. The research team presented written comments on the draft Strategy and was invited to comment on it at the meeting of the City Forum in December 2011. The strategy was subsequently published. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2005 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Transport |
| Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | Contribution to the St Albans Public Realm Delivery Strategy |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| Impact | The written report on the consultation with a group of older and disabled people in St Albans carried out during the project and the map of the barriers that had been identified by the group, were presented at a meeting of the St Albans Access Group with some staff from St Albans City Council present. The work was subsequently discussed at a meeting of the St Albans City Forum in December 2010. This is a consultative body that provides an opportunity for the St Albans City Council to communicate with representatives of community groups, stakeholders, businesses and members of the public. The councillors present recommended that the written report be referred to the planning department of the City Council and to Hertfordshire County Council, which is the transport authority for the area, with a view to the implementation of the recommendations. The city planners decided to implement the recommendations as part of the the St Albans Public Realm Delivery Strategy to improve accessibility in the City Centre. A meeting was held between the research team, the consultants developing the St Albans Public Realm Delivery Strategy and a member of the St Albans City planning staff. The research team presented written comments on the draft Strategy and was invited to comment on it at the meeting of the City Forum in December 2011. The strategy was subsequently published [see http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/Images/St%20Albans%20Public%20Realm%20Delivery%20Strategy%20%28December%202011%29_tcm15-25668.pdf ]. Target Audience: Local Government;Civic Organisation;General Public |
| URL | http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/Images/St%20Albans%20Public%20Realm%20Delivery%20Strategy%20%28December%2... |
| Description | Brighton and Hove City Council |
| Organisation | Brighton & Hove City Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | Bristol City Council |
| Organisation | Bristol City Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | British Transport Police |
| Organisation | British Transport Police |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | British Urban Regeneration Association |
| Organisation | British Urban Regeneration Association |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | CCD Design and Ergonomics Ltd |
| Organisation | CCD Design & Ergonomics |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | Docklands Light Railway |
| Organisation | Transport for London |
| Department | Docklands Light Railway (DLR) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | Greater Manchester Passenger Transport E |
| Organisation | Transport for Greater Manchester |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | Hertfordshire County Council |
| Organisation | Hertfordshire County Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | London Borough of Camden |
| Organisation | London Borough of Lambeth Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | London Borough of Tower Hamlets |
| Organisation | London Borough of Tower Hamlets |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | London Transport Users Committee |
| Organisation | London Transport Users Committee |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | RICS |
| Organisation | Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | Sammie CAD Ltd |
| Organisation | Sammie CAD Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Exec |
| Organisation | South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | Transport for London |
| Organisation | Transport for London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | Participation in Impact 360° Event 'Success stories from the Sustainable Urban Environment' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The session sparked discussion about the knowledge transfer process between academic research and practitioners and policy makers. The activity fed into the project being carried out at Cambridge and Heriot-Watt Universities monitoring the impacts of the EPSRC SUE programme. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| URL | http://www.building4change.com/page.jsp?id=657 |