Our research and monitoring unit specialists explain how they can help you get the data to answer the questions of what you should invest in to achieve active mobility, by understanding the impact of infrastructure and behaviour change programmes.

1. Sustrans Scotland Raising the
Standards Day
Monitoring Mayhem
By the Research & Monitoring Unit
09.11.2017

2. Things are happening
| November 17RMU© Sustrans

3. | November 17
People are interested
RMU

4. | November 17
What will we say?
RMU
Should we
invest in
infrastructure or
behaviour
change?
How can we get
more women
cycling?
How many people
use the route and do
they use all of it or
just part of it?
What are the
economic
benefits of
walking to
tourism?
What
impact will
that have
on the air
quality?
Is it better if the
route is segregated,
semi-segregated or
shared use
What are group is it
most effective to
engage students with I-
Bike interventions?
Can we use STRAVA data to
see where people most
want to have a route to
commute to work?
What is the impact
on health if you
walk to school?What impact has the
National Cycle
Network had on
journey to schools?
Is it more
affective to use
an Orca or an
Armadillo to
separate people
from traffic?

5. | November 17RMU© Sustrans
Who are we?

6. | November 17
Evidence
Base
Monitoring
Evaluation
Research
Our Approach
RMU© Sustrans

7. | November 17
Healthier
Greener
Stronger
Community
Links
C-Links Plus
NCN
Places-Street
Design
Workplaces
Schools
Communities
Our Portfolio
RMU© Sustrans

8. We love it when a plan comes together!
| November 17RMU© Sustrans
Approach
• We consider and
plan the best
approach to
monitoring
considering the
information
provided.
Project/
Outcomes
• We assess,
scope & measure
change in
attitudes,
perceptions and
change in
behaviour
Monitoring
plan
• We create a
monitoring plan
which adds depth
and assigns roles
and
responsibilities.

9. Monitoring
| November 17RMU© Sustrans
Tools
• RMU makes use
of a range of
monitoring tools
identified as being
the most
appropriate for
your project.
The geeky stuff
• At the end of the
project, RMU will
gather all the data
collected. We will
then analyse your
data using a
range of analysis
techniques and
tools to produce
the most accurate
results possible.
Reporting
• RMU will present
the project
findings to
delivery staff and
project managers
in the format set
out in the
monitoring plan.

10. Tools for Infrastructure
| November 17RMU© Sustrans

11. Route User Intercept Survey
| November 17RMU© Sustrans
Route User intercept
Survey and Manual
Count
• Carried out between
7am and 7pm over a
four day period.
Only have four days of
data, so need to correct
based on annual useage
• Automatic cycle
counters
continuously collect
data on trips on the
route allowing us to
estimate the annual
usage.
Who is using a route,
how and why
• Mode types:
pedestrain, cyclist,
scoooter, wheelchair
user etc.
• Journey purpose:
commuting,
shopping, leisure etc.
• Demographic data
• Number of route
users

12. Tools for schools, communities and workplaces
| November 17RMU© Sustrans
Hands up
Survey
Workplace
Surveys
Bike and
Scooter Counts
Beneficiary
Surveys
Activity log
Focus Groups
Secondary data:
STAT 19, SHS The Workplace
Challenge

13. Innovative approaches
| November 17RMU© Sustrans

14. Monitoring
| November 17RMU© Sustrans
Tools
• RMU makes use
of a range of
monitoring tools
identified as being
the most
appropriate for
your project.
The geeky stuff
• At the end of the
project, RMU will
gather all the data
collected. We will
then analyse your
data using a
range of analysis
techniques and
tools to produce
the most accurate
results possible.
Reporting
• RMU will present
the project
findings to
delivery staff and
project managers
in the format set
out in the
monitoring plan.

15. Analysis
| November 17RMU© Sustrans
Benefit to
cost ratio
Health
Benefits
Carbon
Savings
Modal shift
Case
studies

16. Analysis - outputs
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-
0.010
0.020
0.030
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Tripsperpersonsurveyed
Trips by bike
Pedestrian movements to
floating bus island in Glasgow
Trips by bike, 2007 – 2015
(Scottish Household Survey
Travel Diary data)

17. Monitoring
| November 17RMU© Sustrans
Tools
• RMU makes use
of a range of
monitoring tools
identified as being
the most
appropriate for
your project.
The geeky stuff
• At the end of the
project, RMU will
gather all the data
collected. We will
then analyse your
data using a
range of analysis
techniques and
tools to produce
the most accurate
results possible.
Reporting
• RMU will present
the project
findings to
delivery staff and
project managers
in the format set
out in the
monitoring plan.

18. | November 17RMU© Sustrans
Reports
•Annual KPI Reports
•NCN Reports
•I Bike (+ LA Reports)
•ATC
•Community Links
•Community Links Plus +
Process
•Scottish Parent Teacher
Council Survey Report
•C-Linsk Portfolio
•Bike Life Edinburgh.
Reports
•18 Research Projects
•2 STAR Papers
•Challenge Report
•ETBS/GTBS
•HUSS
•TTSR
•Pathhead Street Design
•Dumfries Street Design
•Scottish Natural Heritage
NWCN Report
•Volunteers survey
•I Bike Communities
Influence
•We use our evidence to
influence policy decision
makers at a local and
national level e.g.
•Active Travel Manifestos
•First Minister PfG
•Active Travel Parliamentary
Debate
•SP Committee evidence
•We use to inform
consultations e.g.
•National Transport
Strategy
•Climate Change Bill
•Our research helps raise
public awareness and
secure £ e.g.
•Transport Poverty
•Cycling Collision Hotspots
•C-Links Portfolio.

19. Highlights from KPI 2017
| November 17RMU© Sustrans
Increasing
cycling & walking
• 118% increase in cycling
and 22% for walking after
C-links scheme
implemented
• 106 million walking and
cycling trips were made on
the NCN.
• Increased by 0.65%
Increase
purposeful trips
• 62% increase in purposeful
trips after C-links schemes
implemented
• Purposeful trips NCN has
decreased
• Leisure increased
• 29% of cyclists and 3.7%
of pedestrians travelling to
or from work.
• HH commuter trips 61% to
68%.
• HUSS 49.3%
Increase in levels
of P.A
• 58.8% met recommended
P.A Levels
• Awareness AT is good for
health, has key health
benefits.
• 30.4% - Parents Voice
'maintain and improve
physical health and fitness’.

20. Highlights from KPI 2017
| November 17RMU© Sustrans
Improved community cohesion &
liveability
• 78% of local residents
felt the Crinan Towpath
upgrade meet the
needs of their
community
• C-Links Plus
• I Bike
• Street Design
Improved perceptions of safety/levels
of risk
• 90% of cyclists agreed
they felt safe on C-links
scheme
• Users on NCN
influenced by safe
traffic-free routes
• Top 3 parents concerns
about cycling relate to
safety
• Cycling Collision
Hotspots
Economic effectiveness
• Benefit Cost Ratios
C-Links
• £257million Health
Benefits
• £194,206 per
kilometre of NCN

21. | November 17RMU© Sustrans

22. What we have investigated
• Levels of cycling recorded by over 200 automatic cycle counters in Scotland show
a rise in route usage of almost 5% since 2005.
• Precipitation and temperature play a major part in determining day to day
variations in levels of cycling.
• Transport Poverty - using SIMD categorised the relative risk of areas to
Transport Poverty
• Cycling Collision Hotspots not just in Edinburgh but Paisley, Dundee, Glasgow,
Perth and many other cities.
• Shopping trips account for 22% of urban motorised journeys, vast majority could
be done by bike.
• Journey time is an important factor in mode choice in most everyday journeys:
cycling is faster than driving for 26% of short local trips and faster than public
transport for 93% of short local trips.
| November 17RMU© Sustrans

23. Forthcoming for 2017/18
• Health inequalities, gender and cycling, assessing the
economic benefits of Community Links Programme
• Retail vitality, walking
• Air Quality - working with Eunomia to asses the contribution
of cycling and walking to improving air quality.
• Mapping interventions – HUSS, I Bike
• SASNet UBDC Manipulating Hands up Scotland Survey
(HUSS) to assess deprivation, impact of school focussed
interventions
| November 17RMU© Sustrans
Working in
partnership
e.g. UBDC

24. Helping us put the puzzle together
• Keep a log of important things
– Why are you doing what you are doing?
– Infrastructure dates
– Consultation events
• Take lots of pictures, preferably ones we can use in reports
• Keep your monitoring consistent
– Baseline so you can compare!
– Comparable monitoring – Isolate those variables: same place, time period etc.
– Same questions
• Love those counters
– Do a count before anything happens
– Install new counters when scheme is being implemented
– Keep ones already installed alive and kicking – and share the data with us!
| November 17RMU© Sustrans

25. Opportunities
Stakeholders and Partners
 Opportunities for direct communication
with RMU e.g. Raising the Standards Day
 Making our monitoring plans available for
schemes
 Some site visits to inform M&E approach
 Monitoring guidance e.g. Better by Design
and counter guidance
 Best practice examples of our
data/sharing and collection approaches
 Publication of findings/reports
 Listening – what would you find
most helpful? Please come and talk
with us about it.
Research & Monitoring Unit
 Improve our qualitative research methods
offer e.g. case study methods, interviews
 Capture community cohesion evidence &
C.E.processes
 Big data collection e.g. Travel Behaviour
Surveys
Innovation & Research
• Developing tools and methodologies
• Tackling tricky questions
• Place making indicators
• Annual Research Seminar
| November 17RMU© Sustrans

26. Sustrans is the charity making it easier for people
to walk and cycle. We connect people and places,
create liveable neighbourhoods, transform the
school run and deliver a happier, healthier
commute.
Join us on our journey. www.sustrans.org.uk
Twitter @sustrans
www.sustrans.org.uk