Background

With an estimated 13.7 million people living near the Strategic Road Network (SRN), Highways England wished to develop a series of satisfaction metrics for those living near the SRN as a pre-cursor to measuring satisfaction levels nationwide over the course of a year. This was a departure for Highways England as previous research had always focused on road users and very little work had been done with residents whose lives are affected by the SRN.

Approach

The first phase of activity involved qualitative research which allowed us to identify the relevant metrics followed by a pilot survey via an online panel.  Regression analysis was used on the pilot data to understand the key drivers of satisfaction. The second phase of activity took place over the course of a year and involved surveying over 11,000 customers across the UK, all targeted to be living within one mile (urban areas) or three miles (rural areas) of the Strategic Road Network – which was logistically highly challenging. We provided monthly dashboards for each of the six Highways England regions.

Results

Insights generated from this work are used across the Highways England business to shape and evaluate their operations. Intelligence gathered identifies the key drivers of satisfaction amongst residential communities, and results are fed back into the business to drive real change on the ground and improve satisfaction amongst this priority group. A secondary benefit of this research is that customers are now more aware of Highways England, feel more engaged and have welcomed the opportunity to take part.