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	<title>Road Safety Analysis</title>
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		<title>Leicestershire County Council Claim Inaugural MAST Award at 2012 Conference</title>
		<link>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2012/02/leicestershire-county-council-claim-inaugural-mast-award-at-2012-conference/</link>
		<comments>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2012/02/leicestershire-county-council-claim-inaugural-mast-award-at-2012-conference/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:30:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ROwen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Latest Developments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/?p=1063</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#160; The highlight of the MAST annual user conference, held at Dunchurch Park in Warwickshire, was the presentation of the first MAST user award.  The winner was Steven Cross of Leicestershire County Council, for his evaluation of the Bare Bones scheme using the online analysis tool. The conference seeks to draw together road safety practitioners [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p align="center"><strong><br />
</strong></p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/IMG_7670.jpg"><img title="IMG_7670" src="http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/IMG_7670-1024x559.jpg" alt="" width="561" height="306" /></a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The highlight of the MAST annual user conference, held at Dunchurch Park in Warwickshire, was the presentation of the first MAST user award.  The winner was Steven Cross of Leicestershire County Council, for his evaluation of the Bare Bones scheme using the online analysis tool.</p>
<p>The conference seeks to draw together road safety practitioners from across the country with a focus on developing evidence based practice and the particular role that high quality analysis and customer insight provides for intervention design.</p>
<p>Conference was launched by a keynote presentation from Chairman of the CIHT road safety panel, Kate Carpenter, who immediately stretched delegates&#8217; thinking on the place of road safety in the broader policy picture.  Asking some provocative questions, Kate challenged the conference to examine our practice carefully and to be willing to let the evidence persuade us to strive for continuous improvement.</p>
<p>From a global perspective on road safety presented by Mike Pittman of TRL, to a &#8216;Quickfire&#8217; tour of the use of MAST in local schemes around the country, you couldn’t fail to be impressed by the breadth of analytical work underpinning the national road safety effort.</p>
<p>The outstanding work of Leicestershire County Council, which was recognised with the MAST award, was an evaluative process which used MAST to assess how effective they are in reaching the most appropriate audience through the most efficient communications channels.  Steven Cross was presented with the award by Kate Carpenter.</p>
<p>A link to the agenda, copies of the presentations and the 2012 User Survey can all be found at the <a title="MAST Conference" href="http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/mast-online/mast-conference/">Conference Page</a></p>
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		<title>MAST Mapping goes live with 116 new datasets analysed</title>
		<link>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2012/02/mast-mapping-goes-live-with-116-new-datasets-analysed/</link>
		<comments>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2012/02/mast-mapping-goes-live-with-116-new-datasets-analysed/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:02:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ROwen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Latest Developments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GIS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[KOI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mapping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MAST]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/?p=1017</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The MAST team have today launched a major update to the current online GIS system which is free-to-access for all MAST Members.  A series of thematic maps measuring different types of road risk are now available at Highway Authority and Local Authority District level.  The maps include in-depth analysis of the following road risk groups: [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The MAST team have today launched a major update to the current online GIS system which is free-to-access for all MAST Members.  A series of thematic maps measuring different types of road risk are now available at <em>Highway Authority</em> and <em>Local Authority District</em> level.  The maps include in-depth analysis of the following road risk groups:</p>
<ul>
<li>All casualties (Killed, KSI, All)</li>
<li>Motorcycle Users</li>
<li>Car Users</li>
<li>Pedal Cycle Users</li>
<li>Young Drivers</li>
<li>Pedestrians</li>
<li>Child Casualties</li>
</ul>
<p>There is also the option to explore residency-based trends and also view the total number of crashes by authority area.</p>
<p>For more information, visit the <a title="About the MAST Mapping Dataset" href="http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/mapping/about-the-mast-mapping-dataset/">Mapping </a>section of the website.</p>
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		<title>New Report &#8211; High Risks for Rural Young Drivers</title>
		<link>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2012/02/rural-young-drivers/</link>
		<comments>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2012/02/rural-young-drivers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:37:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Campsall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Latest Developments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/?p=978</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Road Safety Analysis today reveals how risk levels for young drivers vary according to where they live.  The key finding of the report shows that rural young drivers are 37% more likely to be involved in an injury collision than their urban counterparts. A table comparing risk of collision involvement each year by local authority [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Road Safety Analysis today reveals how risk levels for young drivers vary according to where they live.  The key finding of the report shows that <strong>rural young drivers are 37% more likely to be involved in an injury collision than their urban counterparts</strong>. A table comparing risk of collision involvement each year by local authority area also shows the risk rate for young drivers living in each area.</p>
<p>Young drivers throughout the country are already more likely to be involved in a crash with 30% of all motor vehicle drivers involved in collisions<a title="" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a> aged between 16 and 29 years old, yet this age group only made up 18% of the population<a title="" href="#_ftn2">[2]</a>.  This report calculates that young rural drivers are two-thirds more likely to be involved in an injury collision than their older neighbours.</p>
<p>One of the biggest factors in the elevated risk profile is the much higher average annual mileages driven by rural drivers with 31% more miles driver per person than their urban counterparts.  This increased exposure combined with their relative inexperience compared to older drivers is a signal to rural local authorities and police forces that special attention needs paying to this subject.</p>
<p>The report also considers the level of deprivation and whether this is a factor in young driver crashes.  This was not found to be the case in Rural areas, although it is something seen in large town and cities.  Other analysis within the report compares vehicle types involved in crashes, road type, and speed limits.</p>
<p>One further piece of analysis carried out was to rank young driver risk bases on residency in each of the 379 local authority areas in Great Britain.  This was then used to create a map showing regional hotspots and is included at the end of this release along with the best and worst performing areas.</p>
<p>Dan Campsall, director of Road Safety Analysis says, <em>“This is the first time that we have had a thorough examination of the risks to young drivers based on where they live; and the results are stark. Younger drivers from rural areas are much more likely to be involved in a crash where someone is injured, and we need to see a package of measures developed that can bring about a change.  This may require investment in transport infrastructure, community bus schemes and further driver training to affect the inequality that these drivers are experiencing.”</em></p>
<p>With the help of this sort of information, Local Authorities can develop a much better understanding of the risks experienced by their residents and road users, helping them to address the inequalities that many people are experiencing.”</p>
<p>For a copy of the full results including a breakdown of casualty rates for all 206 highway authorities, visit <a href="http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2012/02/rural-young-drivers/young-drivers-road-risk-and-rurality/" rel="attachment wp-att-970">Young Drivers Road Risk and Rurality</a></p>
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		<title>RSA Highlight Opportunity to Parliamentary Committee</title>
		<link>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2011/11/tsc2011/</link>
		<comments>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2011/11/tsc2011/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:23:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Campsall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/?p=880</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Transport Select Committe recently announced that they were going to scrutinise the Government&#8217;s Strategic Framework for Road Safety, published in May this year. In response RSA have been involved in submitting two pieces of evidence to the committee. Firstly, we joined with fifteen professional road safety organisations in submitting a joint memorandum for its [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Transport Select Committe <a title="call for evidence" href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/transport-committee/news/road-safety/">recently announced</a> that they were going to scrutinise the Government&#8217;s Strategic Framework for Road Safety, published in May this year. In response RSA have been involved in submitting two pieces of evidence to the committee.</p>
<p>Firstly, we joined with fifteen professional road safety organisations in submitting <a title="Joint Memorandum to Transport Select Committee" href="http://www.pacts.org.uk/docs/pdf-bank/TSCRoadSafetyFramework%20_2_.pdf">a joint memorandum</a> for its inquiry. The memorandum highlights the importance of targets for road safety which help to deliver higher levels of reductions in those countries that have set targets than in those that have not. The memorandum also calls for a new duty to be placed on the Secretary of State for Transport to ensure the safety of roads in Great Britain and to publish an action plan outlining the steps proposed to reduce road casualties.</p>
<p>At the heart of the committee&#8217;s inquiry will be an examination of the Key Outcome Indicators (KOIs) that have been proposed within the strategic framework.  As a leading analytical organisation who have introduced a number of new approaches to road safety research, RSA has submitted a secondary piece of evidence that deals with the KOIs in particular.</p>
<p>RSA has sought to highlight a number of key opportunities where the currently identified set of KOIs are deficient &amp; yet have the potential to deliver so much more as part of the Government&#8217;s intention to empower citizens through the provision of performance data. By utilising the latest in analytical techniques to examine resident risk, local communities could be given greater insight into the issues that they face together and policy makers can be tasked with effectively addressing the inequalities that are introduced through deprivation. Utilising a broader data set rather than a limited focus on death rates at the national level will ensure that underlying trends are more likely to emerge rather than being masked by a narrow analysis. Disagregating collisions on local roads from those on the strategic road network is likely to provide better insight into the performance of local authorities and, whilst the new focus on rate based measures is welcomed, these rates need to be sharpened if they are to provide serious and meaningful measures of road risk.</p>
<p>To see the full submission, <a title="RSA Submission to Transport Select Committee" href="http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/TSC-Submission-Oct2011.doc">please download it from here</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Road Safety Performance Unveiled</title>
		<link>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2011/09/performance-unveiled/</link>
		<comments>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2011/09/performance-unveiled/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Sep 2011 07:00:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Campsall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Latest Developments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/?p=856</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Study Shows Nationwide Inequalities First independent analysis using new Department for Transport Key Outcome Indicators reveals huge variations in road safety risk across the country Road Safety Analysis reveals today how local road safety performance has differed across the country over the last five years[1]; this information is now available to the public and local [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: left;" align="center">Study Shows Nationwide Inequalities</h3>
<p style="text-align: left;" align="center"><em>First independent analysis using new Department for Transport Key Outcome Indicators reveals huge variations in road safety risk across the country</em><em><strong></strong></em></p>
<p>Road Safety Analysis reveals today how local road safety performance has differed across the country over the last five years<a title="" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a>; this information is now available to the public and local authorities via an interactive mapping tool, or as a league table of performance.</p>
<p>The results reveal that per head of population, casualty rates are four times higher in the Borough of Westminster, North Yorkshire and Powys than in areas such as Plymouth, East Dunbartonshire and Torfaen.</p>
<p>Analysis of casualties based on traffic rates highlight Lambeth, Blackpool and the Isle of Wight as performing up to five times worse than South Gloucestershire, West Berkshire and Newport.</p>
<p>The research is based on five years’ data during which time over 150,000 people have been Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI Casualties) on Great Britain’s roads.  The results are expressed as rates, depending on local traffic and population counts, enabling a more accurate comparison of risk to be made for the first time.</p>
<p>The Department for Transport states that these indicators have been, <em>“designed to help Government, local organisations and citizens to monitor the progress towards improving road safety and decreasing the number of fatalities and seriously injured casualties on Great British roads</em>”, and therefore this report marks the first step in this process.</p>
<p>This study has been conducted by Road Safety Analysis a year after their ground-breaking, “<em>Child Casualties 2010”<a title="" href="#_ftn2"><strong>[2]</strong></a> </em>report which attracted widespread attention around the country<a title="" href="#_ftn3">[3]</a>.  This new report uses information derived from the award-winning<a title="" href="#_ftn4">[4]</a> MAST Online collision analysis system, used by road safety professionals nationwide.</p>
<p>The mapping technology deployed to present the information has been licenced from international experts in online GIS solutions, eSpatial, and is an exciting preview of the new <em>MAST Mapping</em> service to be rolled out to MAST Members in the autumn.</p>
<p>Richard Owen, director of Road Safety Analysis says,<em> “The results of this study show a worrying discrepancy between different parts of the country. Road users in some areas experience considerably higher risk from road traffic crashes than others who might be living just over the border.  With the help of this sort of information, Local Authorities can develop a much better understanding of the risks experienced by their residents and road users, helping them to address the inequalities that many people are experiencing.”</em></p>
<p>For a copy of the full results including a breakdown of casualty rates for all 206 highway authorities, visit our mapping page: <a href="../../../../../mapping/">http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/mapping/</a></p>
<div><br clear="all" /></p>
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> Data covers the ‘benchmark period’ of 2005-2009 as set out by the Department for Transport in their Strategic Framework for Road Safety &#8211; <a href="http://www.dft.gov.uk/publications/strategic-framework-for-road-safety">http://www.dft.gov.uk/publications/strategic-framework-for-road-safety</a></p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> <a href="../../../../../2010/08/child-casualties-2010/">http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2010/08/child-casualties-2010/</a></p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref3">[3]</a> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10989119">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10989119</a></p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref4">[4]</a> <a href="../../../../../2011/06/ciht2011/">http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2011/06/ciht2011/</a></p>
</div>
</div>
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		<title>New Mosaic – Changes Explained</title>
		<link>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2011/09/new-mosaic-%e2%80%93-what-has-changed-why/</link>
		<comments>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2011/09/new-mosaic-%e2%80%93-what-has-changed-why/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Sep 2011 10:59:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ROwen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Latest Developments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/?p=818</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The 2011 update of MAST Online has brought with it something of a revolution in the customer insight data that it delivers for users.  With this year’s annual update we have brought forward two new features that should enable you to take your analysis of road user risk even further providing more up to date [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The 2011 update of MAST Online has brought with it something of a revolution in the customer insight data that it delivers for users.  With this year’s annual update we have brought forward two new features that should enable you to take your analysis of road user risk even further providing more up to date and accurate profiles of your target groups</p>
<h2>New Mosaic</h2>
<p>With the latest release we have integrated ‘New’ Mosaic Public Sector; a complete redesign of the Mosaic classification system that seeks to reflect some of the radical changes in British society over recent years.  New Mosaic has been designed to more responsive to some of the emerging issues that are reshaping society now and will continue to do so for years to come:</p>
<p><strong>Population</strong> – the population is changing with a particular shift in the age profile of the population, but also in lifestyle choices and mobility across the generations.</p>
<p><strong>Diversity</strong> – population migration can have a significant impact on a place for a range of reasons; understanding the impact of increased diversity in a locality in relation to road risk is very important for practitioners.</p>
<p><strong>Networked Society</strong> – expansion of access to internet technologies is changing relationships between individuals and the organisations that serve them; our industry needs to be responsive to these changes in order to communicate in an increasingly networked society.</p>
<p><strong>Economic change</strong>- economic conditions influence mobility, social integration, educational expectations, local community priorities, security and transport choice.</p>
<p><strong>Geographic Trends</strong> – regional variation is likely to be an area of increased scrutiny where exogenous geographic trends such as employment, economic growth, types of industry and connectivity could be impacting on the transport network and reflected in road risk.</p>
<p>To support this Experian say that they have focussed on four areas in the development of new Mosaic:</p>
<ol>
<li>Understanding key changes in society</li>
<li>Optimising the data</li>
<li>Clustering</li>
<li>Interpretation &amp; validation</li>
</ol>
<p>But what does that really mean for MAST users?</p>
<p>Underpinning Mosaic are billions of data items about nearly 25 million households and over 48 million adults.  This data, extracted from both public and commercial sources, provides information on geographic, demographic, economic, onomastic and lifestyle attributes reflected in society.  The new classification has introduced a better age model, identified new family structures, reflected a more detailed understanding of ethnicity and transience and improved the quality of residential property and indebtedness data.</p>
<p>Mosaic now includes 441 data items selected for every person, household, postcode and Output Area in the UK; 62% is person, household or postcode level 38% is Census Output Area or above.  These data sets and differing geographies are then clustered so that the classification can be meaningful when viewed at different levels.</p>
<p>To check that all of this work adds up to meaningful descriptions of communities, the data is rounded out with survey data on issues such as products, attitudes, technology and media, leisure, meanwhile street level work was undertaken to facilitate the renewed association of neighbourhoods to their respective Mosaic classification.</p>
<p>All of this work has led to a number of neighbourhoods being much more tightly defined than in the previous version, particularly where they are communities of the very wealthy, reflect an older age population, are ethnically diverse, have seen redeployment of housing stock or are on the rural margins of Britain.</p>
<p>Remember: Neighbourhood matters!</p>
<p>As Professor Richard Webber points out, Neighbourhood matters for a variety of reasons:</p>
<ul>
<li>Neighbourhoods self-select people who will find it easy to fit in</li>
<li>Neighbourhoods influence what is felt to be acceptable behaviours among their residents</li>
<li>Neighbourhoods provide different opportunities for spending time and money</li>
<li>Neighbourhood reflect the importance of “taste” &amp; “symbols” of success</li>
</ul>
<p>So Neighbourhood becomes an extremely good way of identifying groups of people who share values, lifestyle choices and personal characteristics. This knowledge allows road safety professionals to identify neighbourhoods with a particular risk profile and target messages and interventions that reflect the aspirations and values of the residents in seeking to nudge their behaviour.</p>
<p>The effect of the work that has been undertaken with the data is that New Mosaic has expanded the number of groups from 11 to 15 and the number of types from 61 to 69, every one of which you can read about in the Wiki.</p>
<h2>New Pen Portraits</h2>
<p>The second major change that we have introduced to reflect the inclusion of New Mosaic is the inclusion of bespoke portraiture. With the previous version of Mosaic, the pen portraits that accompanied each group and type were very broad as they sought to provide background for a wide range of public service delivery providers.</p>
<p>In order to increase the clarity and focus of the pen portraits we commissioned a bespoke set that include data sets were not previously available to MAST users.</p>
<p>Whilst an overview of key features, rankings and regional distribution are retained other data variables come to the fore. Cars per household, travel to work, experience of speeding traffic and dangerous driving in the community appear alongside the all-important communications preferences and media consumption data; including internet usage.</p>
<h2>Why Change Now?</h2>
<p>New Mosaic was first unveiled by Experian in 2009, so you might be wondering why have we waited; why we are changing now?</p>
<p>Firstly, because we have been trying to build MAST with a substantial and reliable data set that utilises several years’ worth of data.  As much of the road casualty data is ‘historic’ the best Mosaic classification to match it against was inevitably offered by the Mosaic classification that was in place at the time of the incidents being analysed. Not until we had a couple of years’ worth of New Mosaic data to match against did we feel confident to introduce it as the dominant classification system.</p>
<p>Secondly, because we have gathered a pool of users from a wide range of disciplines and areas of expertise, many of whom had little experience of either analytical or social marketing work.  We wanted to allow a reasonable period for users to get familiar with the MAST approach to road user analysis and using the Mosaic classification before we launched an entirely new version on them.</p>
<h2>Retaining ‘Old Mosaic’</h2>
<p>So New Mosaic will, we trust, bring new insights, more detailed study and more targeted interventions, but to aid the transition we have also retained the old classification system for users too.</p>
<p>If you want to cross check previous analysis or refer to the older version because it allows you to communicate in language that your colleagues and stakeholders are more conversant with, do not worry, it’s all still in there, just check out the wiki for he ‘How To’ information you need.</p>
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		<title>Major Enhancements in MAST 2011</title>
		<link>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2011/09/major-enhancements-in-mast-2011/</link>
		<comments>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2011/09/major-enhancements-in-mast-2011/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Sep 2011 10:08:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Campsall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Latest Developments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/?p=851</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The 2011 update of MAST Online is the biggest change in the system since its launch in 2009 and has brought with it something of a revolution in the customer insight data that it delivers for users.  With this year’s annual update we have brought forward several new features that should enable you to take [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The 2011 update of MAST Online is the biggest change in the system since its launch in 2009 and has brought with it something of a revolution in the customer insight data that it delivers for users.  With this year’s annual update we have brought forward several new features that should enable you to take your analysis of road user risk even further providing more up to date and accurate profiles of your target groups.</p>
<p>The majority of the new features have been implemented as a result of the extensive consultation with MAST members which began with the 2011 User Group meeting in February.  This reflects the commitment of the MAST team to improve and develop the tool in line with user’s requirements.</p>
<p>Reflecting on the new latest release, Bruce Walton, Technical Director at RSA commented<em> &#8220;In February the MAST users highlighted their priorities for taking the tool forward, less than seven months later we have implemented a raft of major new enhancements that deliver against these priorities and more. What is really exciting is that we have also been working on the next steps too and will be bringing more functionality online in the coming weeks.&#8221;</em></p>
<p>These enhancements to MAST Online keep it at the forefront of delivering the most powerful road casualty analysis tool in the country; offering Road Safety Professionals insight that no other tool provides. A summary of the development is provided below:</p>
<h2>New Data</h2>
<p>MAST now includes the entire 2010 STATS19 data, so MAST members can analyse the results in full several weeks before the release of <a title="Reported Road Casualties Great Britain" href="http://www2.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/accidents/casualtiesgbar/index.html" target="_blank">Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain</a> for the first time.</p>
<h2>New Mosaic</h2>
<p>MAST is now integrated with ‘New’ <a title="Experian's Mosaic Public Sector Page" href="http://www.experian.co.uk/business-strategies/mosaic-public-sector.html" target="_blank">Mosaic Public Sector</a>; a complete redesign of the Mosaic classification system that seeks to reflect some of the radical changes in British society over recent years.  New Mosaic has been designed to more responsive to some of the emerging issues that are reshaping society now and will continue to do so for years to come.  For the convenience of our members, MAST will also continue to provide full support the previous Mosaic classification system.</p>
<h2>New Geographical Detail</h2>
<p>In order to provide a greater level of detail about where casualties and drivers come from, as well as where crashes happened, MAST now allows users to view ‘Small Area Geographies’.  This means that, for the first time, users can drill down below the local authority level to hone in on specific problem areas.  These ‘Small Area Geographies’ are Super Output Areas (SOA) in England and Wales and Intermediate Data Zones (IDZ) in Scotland.</p>
<h2>New Bespoke Portraits</h2>
<p>MAST now comes with bespoke road safety specific portraiture for every New Mosiac Group and Type.  We commissioned these from Experian in order to increase the clarity and focus of information now available to MAST users.</p>
<p>Whilst an overview of key features, rankings and regional distribution are retained, other data variables come to the fore. Cars per household, travel to work, experience of speeding traffic and dangerous driving in the community appear alongside the all-important communications preferences and media consumption data; including internet usage.</p>
<h2>New Dimensions</h2>
<h3>Indices of Multiple Deprivation</h3>
<p>As well as updates to Mosaic and the geographical layers within MAST, another new feature of this update is the addition of driver and casualty indices of multiple deprivation, which will provide a further insight into who is involved in crashes.</p>
<h3>More Vehicle Details</h3>
<p>The Department for Transport has specially supplied MAST with vehicle details such as engine capacity and vehicle propulsion. This information has been derived from the vehicle registration mark and will allow us to add more information (such as vehicle colour and age) in the future.</p>
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		<title>Mapping with MAST</title>
		<link>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2011/08/mapping-with-mast/</link>
		<comments>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2011/08/mapping-with-mast/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:00:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ROwen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Latest Developments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/?p=809</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Back in June I published the results of the Annual User Survey which demonstrated considerable support for a form of mapping solution using the information in MAST.  At the time I mentioned our concerns about potential costs to develop a fully-automated system and said we were investigating a more cost-effective solution.  The good news is [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Back in June I published the results of the <a href="../2011/06/user-survey/">Annual User Survey</a> which demonstrated considerable support for a form of mapping solution using the information in MAST.  At the time I mentioned our concerns about potential costs to develop a fully-automated system and said we were investigating a more cost-effective solution.  The good news is that I can announce we are now in a position to showcase some of the early results and talk a little more about how the technology could be used to support individual MAST members.</p>
<p>If you head on over to the <a href="../mapping/">Mapping</a> page you can find out more about the showcase solution that will be live on the website for  the next couple of months, prior to any roll-out of further analysis (at which point it will be only available to MAST members).  There is a short <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrrP3pnhWJI">YouTube video</a> there where I show you how to use the thematic maps but even without that, it’s pretty easy to use.  Hopefully it will all make sense and you will begin to appreciate the possibilities for future uses.</p>
<p>One simple way we can help MAST Members is by carrying out more analysis on different road safety issues.  For example, create a map by Highway Authority of motorcycle crash rates by population, or road length, or motor vehicle ownership etc.  If we are to embark on this then we probably need to know from Members what issues need investigating first (cue another survey).</p>
<p>It is likely that we need to create some new mapping layers other than just Highway Authority.  We can easily cover all of the standard <em>geographies</em> within the MAST system, even including the new <em>Small Area</em> geographies.  You may have some geography suggestions yourself (wards, parliamentary constituencies, postcode districts) and this is something we can look to bring in in the future.</p>
<p>Carrying out the analysis offline at our offices and uploading it to the web is pretty straightwarward and will meet many people&#8217;s requirements, but not the if you want to to customise the results.  The biggest challenge for us at the moment is to make the mapping solution fully flexible, allowing you to export your analysis from the MAST system into an online map.  There are two hurdles to overcome before this is a reality, one financial and one technological.</p>
<p>If we are to create individual user accounts there will be a costs associated, payable by the MAST Members themselves on top of the existing membership fee.  The likely costs using eSpatial are not very high though (thanks to their not-for-profit licencing option) meaning individual members could have their own private logons for around £500 per year.</p>
<p>The technological solution is going to require a little more thought, as well as some changes to MAST and some user training.  Basically we need to produce an export from MAST in a standard format that can then be imported by an individual user, easily, into the GIS system.  A potential methodology has been identified that is a little complex but we want to make it as simple and quick as possible.  We hope to create a solution that will allow MAST Members to produce online maps from any piece of analysis within 15 minutes and once we’re there, we’ll let you know!</p>
<p>There is one other important point of course; access to MOSIAC data at local levels.  Right now we are unable to publish the raw Experian data at any level lower than local authority district.  We hope to come to an agreement over this in the next few months, especially if MAST Member authorities also have a full MOSAIC licence.  Another case of ‘watch this space’.</p>
<p>Of course, it is entirely possible that the solution we are demonstrating here doesn’t meet your requirements!  Perhaps you want to see collisions mapped on the road network via an online GIS system – not something we are considering at the moment.  In any case, <a href="../contact-us/">we welcome your feedback</a>, positive or negative.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Richard Owen – Director, Road Safety Analysis</p>
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		<title>A Unified Call for Action</title>
		<link>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2011/07/a-unified-call-for-action/</link>
		<comments>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2011/07/a-unified-call-for-action/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Jul 2011 07:00:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Campsall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/?p=770</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Road Safety Analysis have added their signature to an important letter in The Times today (Monday 11th July), alongside former ministers and leading charities calling the Government to set ambitious goals for reducing road death and injury even further. At the end of June official figures confirmed that 2010 had been the lowest year on [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Road Safety Analysis have added their signature to an important <a href="http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Times-Joint-Letter.doc">letter in The Times</a> today (Monday 11th July), alongside former ministers and leading charities calling the Government to set ambitious goals for reducing road death and injury even further.</p>
<p>At the end of June official figures confirmed that 2010 had been the lowest year on record for road deaths in Britain with 1,857 reported nationwide. Whilst this is remarkable progress, it is just a decade since the figure was over 3,400 deaths per year, there are many who are concerned that we will not continue to make headway unless aiming for a reduction that far exceeds the new government forecast.</p>
<p>Published in May, the Strategic Framework for Road Safety sets out the intentions of Government for reducing road casualties over the next 20 years. This includes a forecast for 2020 when the Department for Transport hopes that we might have further reduced the death toll to 1,770 per annum; representing only a further 4.7% saving against last year’s record low.</p>
<p>The concern among leading voices in the profession and among politicians who have previously been responsible for road safety is that aiming for 0.5% reduction each year for the next ten years is out of step with the efforts being made across Europe and the globe. On the same day as the framework was unveiled, the UN drew back the curtain on a Decade of Action for Road Safety, meanwhile the European Commission set a target in December for reducing road deaths across the EU by 50%.</p>
<p>Dan Campsall, a Director of Road Safety Analysis and one of the signatories to the letter said: “At a time when the rest of the world is rolling their sleeves up to go further and faster in reducing the intolerable effect of road death and injury on our communities, we are holding back. The societal and economic costs of road traffic collisions are enormous, we cannot afford to place them on one side and hope that in 10 years’ time that we might just have made some progress. We have to take up the challenge of making the roads a safer place for all; regardless of age or social advantage.”</p>
<p>To see the full letter and list of signatories, please <a href="http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Times-Joint-Letter.doc">click here</a>.</p>
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		<title>More Data, More Often</title>
		<link>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2011/06/more-data/</link>
		<comments>http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/2011/06/more-data/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Jun 2011 14:03:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ROwen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Latest Developments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.roadsafetyanalysis.org/?p=758</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Bruce Walton, RSA&#8217;s Technical Director and the MAST Project Manager, announces some important improvements in the pipeline for MAST. Among other things, his blog addresses MAST members&#8217; requirements for more timely publication of data, greater geographical detail, additional driver insight and progress on crash rates and contributory factors. Over the last two years, MAST Online [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Bruce Walton, RSA&#8217;s Technical Director and the MAST Project Manager, announces some important improvements in the pipeline for MAST.  Among other things, his blog addresses MAST members&#8217; requirements for more timely publication of data, greater geographical detail, additional driver insight and progress on crash rates and contributory factors.</em></p>
<p>Over the last two years, MAST Online has provided Britain&#8217;s road safety profession with unprecedented levels of access to national data, enabling analysis and profiling to levels of quality and insight we would scarcely have thought possible before.  You wouldn&#8217;t think such an important and widely acknowledged achievement could possibly come with a down side, but in a strange way it does.  I&#8217;m reminded of what happened after I surprised my children with a present of the latest video game featuring their favourite characters: it gave them many happy hours of play, but also left them insisting &#8220;Now you&#8217;ve got to give us the next one in the series, Daddy!&#8221;</p>
<p>The MAST concept has almost limitless potential as a basis for planning intelligence led interventions – so much, in fact that it&#8217;s hard to know which way to turn first.  In this blog, I&#8217;ll discuss how we are going to move MAST forward over the next few months, driven as ever by the priorities of our members.  Each heading below features a common request, followed by an outline of our plans for meeting it.  I can only hope these responses leave you feeling more satisfied than my kids were, when I told them they had to &#8220;wait and see what comes along at Christmas.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;We need the latest data more quickly &#8211; sometimes it&#8217;s over a year out of date&#8221;</strong></p>
<p>We agree.  Until now, national data release has always been predicated on the publication schedule of RCGB, which doesn&#8217;t come along until the September after each year end.  However, having discussed this matter with colleagues in the Department for Transport we now foresee two important developments.<br />
Firstly, we expect the full national data set to be released on Road Casualties Online as soon as processing is complete, rather than waiting for RCGB.  This will enable us to <strong>update MAST with 2010 data by 15 August</strong>, about six weeks earlier than was possible before.</p>
<p>Secondly, we hope to provide an <strong>interim update covering the first six months of 2011</strong> alongside release of DfT&#8217;s second quarterly estimates this December.  This update would be shown separately from validated annual data and may not have every single dimension fully populated, but it will be an important step in the direction of satisfying widespread demand for faster information more fitting to the age of the internet.</p>
<p>By the way, if you would like to see your data even more quickly than this, here are two suggestions for how you could take it forward.  Firstly, you could approach us to discuss the possibility of a MAST Local Data Portal covering your area.  Secondly, encourage your local police force to adopt the Crash reporting back end, which is the best way to move towards a live national dataset.</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;We need to see more detail on the location of crashes&#8221;</strong></p>
<p>This request has come along in several guises.  For those who want a sharper focus on neighbourhood risk, I can bring you some very good news here and now.  MAST will release <strong>Crash Location at Small Area level along with the 2010 data</strong> this August.  By the way, &#8220;Small Area&#8221; is our generic term embracing both super output areas in England and Wales and data zones in Scotland.</p>
<p>For those wishing to perform route analysis, a reminder that MAST already enables you to do this.  If  you haven&#8217;t yet checked out the Filter by Road Number feature and the Crash Strategic Road Location dimension – why not?</p>
<p>For those who want more information about mapping with MAST data, we will not keep you waiting too long.  We have been working feverishly on investigating mapping solutions to enhance MAST, and good things will come to those who wait.  Just don&#8217;t forget to put out the hot chocolate and cookies by the fireplace before you go to bed!<br />
For those not satisfied by any of the above &#8211; for instance, if you are being asked to provide detailed analysis at ward or junction level &#8211; you may find that a MAST Local Data Portal is the best solution to your needs.  If you would like to discuss this further, please get in touch.</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;I wish we knew more about what these drivers are really like … &#8220;</strong></p>
<p>Now you will.  I can announce that as from this summer MAST will include several important new dimensions, providing yet more unparalleled intelligence into drivers involved in crashes.  These will include among others <strong>Driver Index of Multiple Deprivation, Vehicle Age and Vehicle Engine Size</strong>.  For good measure, we&#8217;ll include <strong>Casualty Index of Multiple Deprivation </strong>too.  This is not something we will stand still on either, as we are looking to expand this still further in future years.  We hear those of you who want to see Vehicle Colour, Driver Years Licensed and so on, and you can rest assured we&#8217;re working on it.</p>
<p>However, there are one or two things we can&#8217;t do.  Many of you want information based on driver breath tests or drivers without insurance, but theses cannot be released for data protection reasons.  There are some other things which are not recorded with sufficient consistency to be released at national level.  However, if you know that your local data contains (say) driver crash history or corporate vehicle ownership and you would like to include this in MAST-style analysis, then again a MAST Local Data Portal would be your best way forward.</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;OK I know the numbers &#8211; but I need to know the rates.&#8221;</strong></p>
<p>Expressing results as rates is very much the flavour of the month in road safety at the moment, what with the publication of Outcome Indicators in the Strategic Framework.  Rates by distance travelled and by population are going to become an indispensible tool in future, and here at RSA we&#8217;re very much in the vanguard of this move.  Of course MAST has already made Mosiac Indexing a commonplace tool for many road safety professionals, and our groundbreaking Child Resident Casualty Risk report last year attracted a great deal of interest.</p>
<p>Many of you want to see MAST reports indexed by population age and gender, which would not only greatly enhance MAST&#8217;s existing Mosaic profiles but would also be hugely valuable in setting other MAST reports into valuable context.  This is not quite as straightforward as it sounds, demanding both reliable and consistent source data and significant development investment.  However we recognise that there is huge road safety value in providing our members with this facility, so I can confirm that <strong>we definitely aim to integrate population, age and traffic indexing into MAST</strong> over the next year.  I expect that this functionality to be integrated into MAST gradually, but I intend to have the first instalment ready for release before Christmas &#8211; in time for you to tell us that we got it wrong at next year&#8217;s user conference!</p>
<p>Oh, and about those Key Outcome Indicators in the Strategic Framework: we will make sure that our members have easy access to authoritative information on where their performance stands.  RSA will be leading the way on calculating and assessing the KOIs, thus helping you to stay ahead of the game.</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;I want to know why these crashes happened!&#8221;</strong></p>
<p>Doesn&#8217;t everyone!  Again, this issue has several different facets which I will discuss separately.</p>
<p>One thing we can and will do to assist analysis in the meantime is provide more of our &#8220;Crash Involved …&#8221; dimensions, which have proved extremely popular.  I&#8217;m pleased to announce that <strong>the following member requests will be included in MAST when the 2010 data is released</strong> this summer:</p>
<li>* Crash Involved Foreign Registered Vehicle</li>
<li>* Crash Involved Journey for Work</li>
<li>* Crash Involved Young Driver</li>
<p>We will continue to keep this area of development under review, so if you have additional comments or suggestions then please post them on the MAST User Forum.  We&#8217;re very grateful for all the suggestions for new report templates in the survey, and we will be releasing some <strong>new templates</strong> based on your suggestions later in the year.  By the way, don&#8217;t forget that you can also use our &#8220;Casualty … Related&#8221; fields to good effect.  There are some good ones already there, including Journey Purpose of Related Driver and Manoeuvre of Related Vehicle.  Again, if you have suggestions for any additions then please share them with us on the forum.</p>
<p>Now on to the continuing debate about our old friends the Contributory Factors.  In our recent user survey we canvassed your opinions on whether and how they should be released, something which those of you who have worked in collision analysis will know is far from straightforward.  89% of you agreed that they should be made available in some form, and the most popular approach was that &#8220;CF data should be shown in more detailed groups devised by MAST, for example &#8216;Driver Injudicious due to Excessive and/or Inappropriate Speed&#8217; &#8220;.</p>
<p>With this clear aspiration on CFs in the forefront of our minds, we discussed how to progress this with our colleagues in DfT.  They kindly supplied us with a sample CF dataset for analysis, and we in turn provided them with a sample of how this data would look if published in MAST.  We are hopeful that once everyone has had a chance to consider the outcome of this confidential trial, we will receive the go-ahead to publish additional dimensions based on CFs in the foreseeable future.  In the meantime, if you happen to bump into anyone from DfT at an event, don&#8217;t forget to mention it … </p>
<p>Finally, there is one thing which some people might like but we will not release on a national basis.  A number of police forces tend to record the vehicle considered by the attending officer to have precipitated a crash as &#8216;Vehicle One&#8217; on the stats form, and some have used this during analysis in lieu of a formal &#8216;Precipitating Vehicle&#8217; field.  In our survey your views were divided: only 21% of you had a high degree of confidence of this connotation in your local data, and conversely 15% of you considered that vehicle numbers held no meaning whatever.  In light of this widespread uncertainty, we feel it would be misleading to the point of irresponsibility to publish this information.  However, if you are confident in your local data containing this or any other significance which MAST is unable to exploit, then don&#8217;t forget that a Local Data Portal could be the answer to your dreams!</p>
</p>
<p>Well, there we go – quite a shopping list.  I&#8217;m sure you will agree that MAST is continuing to respond effectively to the needs of its member base, and as ever we look forward to your views on the progress which we have made at the next User Conference.  If you would like to contribute your thoughts on what MAST has done for you and where it should go next, then please get in touch with us or post on the forum.</p>
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