Tuesday 8 September 2009

NHT on routes

Fans of the OSM cycle map might be interested to see how different local authorities are rated in the NHT survey for the information they provide on cycle routes. Darlington comes out well in the survey, and Liverpool does not come out well at all.

Of course, since this is measuring perceptions, rather than reality, it doesn't necessarily correspond to the quality of the information each authority provides.

I dont want to have a Boris experience, so lets say that people in Liverpool hold their council to higher standards than people in Darlington. Or perhaps people in Darlington don't like to grumble to market researchers. Or it could be that Darlington actually does provide better information on cycle routes. There are some oddities. I thought that TfL did all the cycle maps for London (and I think they do a pretty good job of it). But information on cycle routes is rated highly by people in Islington , and poorly by people in in Kensington.

Of the councils that are rated highly in this survey the residents of Milton Keynes and Bristol seem particularly well served. They have pretty good coverage on OSM, and they like their council maps. The council is seen as doing a good job in Darlington and Poole, but neither is particularly well covered by OSM.

OSM provides a good alternative for some of the councils that are not seen as providing good cycle route information themselves. This is particularly true of Liverpool, Torbay and Kensington. Other councils that are seem as weak, such as Northamptonshire, Wallsall, Stockport and Staffordshire are also a bit thin on OSM. Cyclists in Cornwall in particular could do with some help.

If there's a pattern to all this, then it's not one I can see.

The survey data is here, and there is an expanded version of my chart here.

5 comments:

devonshire said...

As Torbay's resident OSMer I am wondering if the poor showing is down to the fact that there isn't much cycling provision here at all. Looking at what nearby Exeter has achieved makes things here look very poor.

gom1 said...

Nice work on the Torbay map though.

Martin said...

Darlington was one of the cycling demonstration towns in 2005, so there might be some legacy from then. Interesting numbers.

gom1 said...

Darlington does have a nice cycle map.

Gregory Marler said...

Darlington is on my OSM high priorities list. I'm thinking of a mapping party there this time next year, when I'm back in the area.