MAST Online – Frequently Asked Questions
MAST Online is an innovative web based data analysis tool for road safety professionals to gain insight crashes and the people involved with them. This information is invaluable for planning effective and efficient interventions.
Where does the information come from?
MAST Online draws data from two main sources. Firstly, it contains Road Crash and Casualty information for the whole nation supplied by the Department for Transport. Secondly, it contains socio-demographic insights into the communities most at risk of becoming involved in crashes using Mosaic Public Sector.
What does MAST do with it?
The MAST Project Team use the raw data to create ‘data cubes’, a data storage technique used to process information into a convenient format for easy analysis. This is done using Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services. These data cubes form the data source for users to generate reports.
How do users get at the data?
MAST Online allows users to create their own reports, simply be specifying what information the wish to look at and how they wish to categorise it. Results are displayed instantly in both chart and number grid formats, which can be freely saved and downloaded for further use as required. The screenshots on our Samples page will provide some idea of what a MAST report looks like, and how flexible and easy it is to use.
How do I become a user?
Any organisation with an interest in road safety can access MAST Online, simply by becoming a member of MAST. If you are interested, please complete this form.
How will users be supported?
Online help has been provided in the form of Wiki pages explaining the concepts behind MAST and the techniques used to make the most of it. The MAST User Forum also provides help and advice to MAST users. Training courses are also available.
