Highways Agency

Customer Feedback - road users’ satisfaction

Our national road users’ satisfaction survey, carried out continuously, involves over 2,000 people annually who are interviewed at their own homes. It provides the results for our key performance indicator for road user satisfaction as well as other important information about how our customers use our network and services.

We achieved average annual scores for customer satisfaction of 84.7% for motorways and 82% for trunk roads against targets of 84% for motorways and 82% for trunk roads. On motorways the highest quality score was for good direction signs; on trunk roads for quieter road surfaces.

We also introduced area road users’ satisfaction surveys, involving over 11,000 people a year. Surveys are carried out in each of our fourteen maintenance areas to identify local issues.

The six monthly reports are used by the Highways Agency to understand what road users and people living near our roads think about the way they are managed in their areas. We also collect information about road users’ experiences when driving through roadworks.

Feedback from these surveys is being used to improve the way we deliver our services. We are improving the ways we communicate with customers to better explain what we are trying to do, what information is available to help them plan their journeys and what they can do themselves to benefit from safe and reliable journeys.

Customer beacon network

We have established a network of customer beacons, representing teams across the Highways Agency, who gather feedback from road users and other customers.

They are continuing to help their teams improve the way they communicate and deliver services to customers by identifying and sharing best practice across the Highways Agency. The customer beacons also help their teams to use feedback when identifying and planning new services.

Working with our stakeholders

We have improved the way we engage with stakeholders by appointing senior managers to act as the focal point for specific organisations or industries. Our managers advise people in the Highways Agency about the concerns of each group.

Partnership working

Strong working relationships with our partners are crucial to our success.

We have established a good relationship with the police through developing the traffic officer service, and this has ensured a smooth transition of traffic management responsibilities.

We have started formal partnership working with English Heritage, the Environment Agency and the Freight Transport Association and are working towards a similar arrangement with Network Rail.

We also work closely with planning authorities, suppliers and environmental groups when planning road improvements and other projects.

Improving customer service through our supply chain

We have recently completed the latest phase of our capability assessments which measure the quality of services offered by major project and maintenance organisations. We have published results for individual companies on our website.

In this third round of the assessments, which were first introduced in 2002, we included several new indicators, developed to increase the focus on:

• diversity
• innovation
• risk management
• corporate social responsibility and
• putting customers at the heart of our business

The supply chain delivers services on motorways and trunk roads worth approximately £2bn a year, so the assessments are designed to help each organisation identify strengths and development areas in the capabilities needed for a wide range of work. They also help to ensure supply companies know what we require from our contracts.

The capability assessments represent a significant investment by us in the continued development and improvement of our supply chain.

We are pleased with the commitment and positive approach demonstrated by our suppliers, both in developing the assessment toolkit and the steps they have taken to make improvements and towards achieving best practice to delivering customer services.

Keeping our customers informed - improved communications

Current information services

During the year we reviewed the effectiveness of our existing information channels for drivers and developed an action plan for improvement.

The plan concentrates on improvements to the information we display on our variable message signs (VMS) and on developing our Traffic England website. Feedback from our customers shows that both these channels are valued and that improvements would bring worthwhile benefits.

Use of the Highways Agency Information Line (HAIL) telephone service increased significantly over the last 12 months with our staff dealing with a wide range of questions about the work of the agency.

The HAIL team also provided much information about travel conditions on the network to help people plan their journeys.

Better information for road users

We are introducing better information services to keep road users better informed about conditions on the road network and to help them make choices about the route, time and mode for their journeys. This contributes to reducing congestion and improving journey time reliability.

We received ministerial approval to roll out three new travel information services:

• a traffic radio service that provides real-time traffic information, updated every fifteen minutes and broadcasting nationally on DAB radio
• real-time CCTV footage on our website, and high quality moving images for TV travel news bulletins
• the display of travel time information on our network.

Building on trials on the M5 and M6, we now plan to introduce the service nationally. The service displays current estimates of journey times and any expected delays on our electronic motorway variable message signs. Customer feedback from our trials has been very supportive

Communications plan published

Our central theme for 2006-07 was to be seen as an organisation that’s focused on “helping you with your journey”, while explaining how we are protecting the environment. There are a number of things we do that demonstrate how we do this, under the themes of:

• Reliability – keeping traffic moving
• Safety
• Information
• Environment

Our communications plan and corporate campaigns supported these four key themes, and we made it clear within these themes that we are looking to promote our reputation for innovation.

Tone of Voice language branding programme introduced

In June 2006 we launched a new tone of voice initiative which is designed to humanise our writing to customers and stakeholders, to make us more approachable, less bureaucratic and formal. So far, over 400 staff have been trained.