Transport Direct
2nd floor
55 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0EU
[email address]
Date: April 01, 2010
FOI Reference Number: F0006273
Dear Mr Taylor
Thank you for your enquiry regarding the ‘find a cycle route’ feature of Transport
Direct which we received on 08/03/2010.
I am writing to confirm that the Department has now completed its search for the
information which you requested.
A copy of the documentation you requested is enclosed. The answers to your
specific questions are below.
Q - A breakdown of the money i) allocated for and ii) spent on this new feature;
broken down both by source of funding (public and private) and by project
component (data collection, software development, marketing etc.).
A – All funding for this project has come from the Department for Transport. The
breakdown of costs is as follows:
Financial
Design
Software
Software
Data
Data
Project
Year
Feasibility
Development
Licences
management
collection
management
07/08
£91,595
£16,156
- - -
08/09
£334,115 £62,930 £13,850
-
-
09/10
-
£17,608 £79,323 £184,671 £309,000 £133,000
10/11 -
- £82,491
£293,000
£548,000
£115,000
Total £91,595 £367,879 £224,744
£594,521 £857,000 £248,000
NB: The figures above represent the latest and most accurate budget. These
figures take precedence over any previous estimates such as those included in
some of the associated documentation. All figures exclude VAT.
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In addition, as a linked initiative, DfT and Cycling England have spent a further
£25k in 2009/10 and made a software development provision of £375k in 2010/11
for a Cycling for Schools programme that will re-use the functionality created in
the Cycle Journey Planner Programme.
Q - Details of arrangements to release cycling data collected at public expense. If
the data is to be released under an open licence, could you please specify which
licence, and/or supply a copy. I am specifically seeking information related to any
claims the Ordnance Survey has over the cycling data collected; and if such
claims exist I would like to request details of if and under what terms, and what
prices, the data will be made available to Ordnance Survey customers.
A – As announced last week, the process by which all Government data sets are
made available to the public is under review, this will include the cycle datasets,
although these are clearly jointly owned with local government. As part of this
review we will examine any limitations imposed by the manner in which data
collection was agreed and seek to either relax these or re-negotiate these
conditions. This review will be completed and appropriate data tables published
by November 2010. However the following uses of the data are already
confirmed and hopefully will help to answer your question.
The DfT has entered into a contract for collection of cycle data. Under the
contract a database of cycling information will be collated, such as whether a
cycle path is present or if an area is unlit. DfT also intends to enter into
agreements with local authorities under which those authorities will assist the
data collector in populating the database and maintaining its contents. The IPR
for the database created by this exercise will be owned by the Crown, and in
accordance with the terms of the agreements those local authorities will also be
able to use the cycling information for the purposes of encouraging cycling within
their local authority areas.
Ordnance Survey does not have any claim over the cycle data that has been
collected for this project. However in order to make cycle planning possible the
collected data relating to on-street cycling has been referenced to the OS road
network product (ITN), and attributes relevant to cyclists have been added to the
ITN network. The new cycling specific infrastructure has also been referenced
against ITN to connect up the network. This referencing to ITN does not imply
any right of OS over the cycle data itself. However, that cycle data does not
present a complete network, so will only easily be understood and manipulated in
the context of OS ITN. It is expected that Government will announce the results
of the recent OS consultation in the near future and the use of cycling data will be
reviewed in the light of that announcement.
The aim of the DfT and the local authorities in creating and maintaining the
database is to encourage cycling by making relevant information available to the
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public. Once any new area database has been created and tested it will be
available to members of the public to use alongside other pieces of transport
information via the Transport Direct portal. In order to calculate a particular
cycling route and represent it on a map use will be made not only of the cycling
information database, but also of OS information. Use of the cycling data is
subject to the same terms and conditions as any other Transport Direct journey
calculation. The terms and conditions for use of Transport Direct are set out
here:
http://www.transportdirect.info/web2/staticwithoutprint.aspx?abandon=true&id=_w
eb2_about_termsconditions There is no charge for the use of Transport Direct as a publicly available service.
Q - The number of successfully-planned cycle journeys since the launch of the
feature.
A – Between 01/12/2008 and 28/02/2010 there have been 23,608 instances of
the cycle details page which is displayed after a cycle journey has been planned
on the Portal. This number is expected to rise significantly as the number of data
areas increases. There have been 83,113 instances of the cycle planner input
page. It is likely that the main reason for not continuing to plan the journey after
reaching the input page is that the area the user wishes to plan their journey in is
not yet available.
Q - The number of instances of user feedback on the cycle journey planner since
its launch.
A – There have been 131 public feedbacks relating to the cycle planner between
its launch and the end of February 2010.
Q - The cost to a Local Authority for adding their area to the planner, including
data collection costs. If the cost is variable, e.g. dependent on the size of the
authority, I would like the formula for calculating the cost to be released.
A – The Department for Transport has a contract with Cycle City Guides for
surveying and collecting data in local authority areas. The cost to the Department
for Transport is a fixed price determined by the size of the urban area to be
surveyed, plus additional costs for work other than a survey of the urban area,
this is as agreed between all parties and as per the rates in this contract. The
contract specifies eight local authority urban area size bands, against which
Cycle City Guides submitted its tender.
Local authorities wishing to take part in the Cycle Journey Planner will be asked
to provide a contribution towards the survey. The actual cost to the Local
Authority will depend on the area they wish to be surveyed and any additional
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services and will be negotiated on a case by case basis. As an indication of the
actual costs to local authorities, the contribution for an authority with an urban
area of the size of Windsor and Maidenhead might typically be in the order of £2-
3k. A single city the size of e.g. Portsmouth or Sheffield might be asked for a
contribution of £7-8k while a consortium of a number of local authorities with a
major urban area (South Yorkshire ITA) working together could pay £25-30k
divided between the individual authorities involved. Conversely some local
authorities may already have data in a suitable format and their contribution will
be nil.
Q - Copies of agendas, minutes and papers relating to the meetings the project
boards / working parties (or similar bodies) which have been involved in planning
and/or oversight of the project.
A – The Cycle Planner is monitored by two main bodies which are the Cycling
Project Board and Programme Board. Minutes and associated papers for these
meetings are attached.
In keeping with the spirit and effect of the Freedom of Information Act, all
information is assumed to be releasable to the public unless exempt. The
Department will, therefore, be simultaneously releasing to the public the
information you requested, together with any related information that will provide
a key to its wider context.
If you are unhappy with the way the Department has handled your request or
with the decisions made in relation to your request you may complain within two
calendar months of the date of this letter by writing to the Department’s
Information Rights Unit at:
Zone D/04
Ashdown House
Sedlescombe Road North
Hastings
East Sussex TN37 7GA
E-mail: [email address]
Please see attached details of DfT’s complaints procedure and your right to
complain to the Information Commissioner.
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to
quote the reference number above in any future communications.
Yours Sincerely
Mike Gibson
Transport Direct
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Your right to complain to DfT and the Information Commissioner
You have the right to complain within two calendar months of the date of this
letter about the way in which your request for information was handled and/or
about the decision not to disclose all or part of the information requested. In
addition a complaint can be made that DfT has not complied with its FOI
publication scheme.
Your complaint will be acknowledged and you will be advised of a target date by
which to expect a response. Initially your complaint will be re-considered by the
official who dealt with your request for information. If, after careful consideration,
that official decides that his/her decision was correct, your complaint will
automatically be referred to a senior independent official who will conduct a
further review. You will be advised of the outcome of your complaint and if a
decision is taken to disclose information originally withheld this will be done as
soon as possible.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right
to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
