National road and transport survey launches on June 27

From Monday (June 27), thousands ofBuckinghamshire residents will get the chance to have their sayabout the local road and transport services they receive as part of a national survey involving 106 local councils.

The annualNational Highways and Transport (NHT) Survey covers everything fromthe condition of roads and footpaths to the quality of cycling facilities and local bus services.And the 12 page questionnaire askslocal peopleexactly the same questions, whether they live in Buckinghamshire, Bristol,Brighton or Blackpool.

The survey, now in itsninth year, is the largest collaboration between local authorities and offers councils the chance tocompare results, sharebest practice and identify further opportunities to work together in the future. The full results are expected to be published in mid-October.

Buckinghamshire County Council’sCabinet Member for Transportation, Mark Shaw said heis urging everyone who receives a survey formto get involved.

“This nationwide survey is a brilliantway to share ideas with other local authorities and to discover any regional or local trends in the successes or otherwise of transport initiatives.

“The survey is not about competing with the next county along to see who is better – it’s about finding a benchmark by which we measure our services and try to continue to offer the best standard we can.

Mark added, “Ifasurvey drops through your letterbox please do complete it as we need yourinput. We really want to be able to take local views and priorities into accountin everything we do and the NHT survey is an essential part of helping us to do that.”

Theresults will helpTransport for Buckinghamshireassess how it is performing andalsospotlight specific servicesthat local people thinkshould be prioritised and improved.

Residents that receive the questionnaire can also complete the survey online if they prefer.A short URL link will be printed on the front of the questionnaire and they will be required to enter a code before completing it.

Last year Transport for Buckinghamshire (TfB) completed over 300 highways projects, which included resurfacing approximately 97 miles’ worth of road. This year there areplans for some 200+ schemes, which will be helpedby the recent top up of £546,000 from the Department for Transport’s pothole fund. But road maintenance isn’t the only thing;TfB is also responsible for winter gritting, summer grass cutting, maintenance of bridges, bridleways, footpaths, and streetlights.