Our customers: transport plans and decisions

Bristol City Council were drafting their transport strategy, setting out the vision for transport in the city up to 2036. They wanted people to understand, deliberate on and give feedback about the complicated choices at stake. They used a Priority Simulator to let residents try their hand at making the tough decisions for themselves.

Participants could adjust sliders to make different aspects of the strategy more or less important. As they did so, they saw the consequences of the necessary trade-offs – helping them to learn about the plan at the same time as give their views on it.

"The plans we are working on are complex and I think it can be hard for the public to understand all the bureaucracy involved. But what we are trying to do is lay out our vision so people have that tangible idea of what we are doing."

Councillor for Eastville ward, Bristol City Council

The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) is a major new road, intended to transform travel around and across Aberdeen. The Route is one of several significant transport schemes in development around the city. As part of their preparations, Aberdeen City Council ran a series of public consultations on the changes, looking at how people were accustomed to travelling around the city and how things might look different after the opening of the AWPR. The Council encouraged responses via online surveys run using Citizen Space, integrating maps and infographics to help participants visualise the proposed changes.

"The city is going through one of the biggest transformations in its infrastructure, with £560million spent on major projects… This information gleaned from the public consultation will be used to help shape transport policy for the city and we’d love to hear from everyone who uses roads in Aberdeen."

Transport and Regeneration spokesperson, Aberdeen City Council

Other examples of local transport plan consultations using our tools include:

Like many cities around the UK, Birmingham City Council were considering the introduction of 20mph speed limits on the city’s roads in a bid to improve safety and reduce the number of accidents. They recognised that these plans would affect 'anyone who lives, works, shops, visits or travels in the city', so wanted to be sure to get people's views on the proposals. Using Delib tools, they opened up an extensive online consultation, after which a pilot area was chosen and the scheme began rolling out across the city.

"By reducing speeds we can reduce the number of accidents on our road and save an estimated £5 million per year. We think 20 is Plenty, in the context of these proposals. However, I urge everyone to have their say during the period of public consultation on an issue that affects everyone in Birmingham."

Cabinet Member for Development, Jobs and Skills, Birmingham City Council

Other transport policy consultations using our tools include:

Transport for London (TfL) consult on a huge range of topics, from major infrastructure projects to minor adjustments in local transport schedules. They chose to use Citizen Space to consult online – because of its ability to make consultations more accessible and engaging to the public, and its ability to improve their internal processes of running and managing consultations. TfL now use Citizen Space for all their public consultations – including, for example, proposals for London buses to no longer accept cash payments. This generated the largest ever response to a TfL consultation, with over 37,000 submissions received.

"Citizen Space has transformed the way we are able to engage with our customers and stakeholders. It has allowed us to reach and listen to the views of more service users than ever before."

Head of Consultation, Transport for London

Other infrastructure decision consultations using our tools include: