Level Up with VivaCity: Our Top 3 Tips

Announced in November 2023, a further £1 billion has been allocated to 55 local authorities in the in Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund. Here are our Top 3 Tips for how to make the most of your funding pot.

1. Establish baseline data

Truly understand the current state of your transport network – where it performs well and where it needs to perform better, and use this baseline data to monitor impact.

It’s likely that you’ll already have ideas and public consultation is a valuable indicator. However, objective evidence, in the form of accurate, long-term multi-modal traffic monitoring data will make all the difference, enabling fact-led decision-making when it comes to allocating budget.

Our AI computer-vision sensors provide a whole range of accurate and anonymous datasets that meet the highest data protection standards. Datasets include:

• Classified Counts, including pedestrians, cyclists and e-scooters
  
• Near Miss detection for insight on traffic conflicts
  
• Tracks, to analyse the route taken across the road space by different road user types and identify behaviours and trends
  
• Journey Times, to understand traffic flow and congestion
  
• Countline Speeds, for data on average speeds to be used for planning, monitoring and assessing road safety schemes

Find out more about our solution on our sensor page.

This data can reveal a whole range of things that you may otherwise be in the dark about, for example:

• Tracks data can might show a high rate of pedestrian jaywalking across a busy road, indicating that a pedestrian crossing is necessary at a particular location
  
• Classified Count data can highlight that there’s a large volume of cyclists using a road that doesn’t have an allocated cycle path and requires one
  
• Near Miss detection can reveal hazardous hotspots, along with the root cause of the safety risk, providing empirical evidence to support anecdotal accounts from members of the public

Gathering data pre-intervention is not only crucial in identifying a genuine need for that intervention – it equips you with vital baseline data against which you will measure its success.

2. Understand the impact of an intervention

Measure intervention success, with long-term network data.

Whether it’s a low traffic neighbourhood that aims to reduce the quantity of carbon emitting vehicles and improve an area’s walkability, or the integration of sensor data into a traffic control system to prioritise modal crossing in response to real-time demand, success can be measured with VivaCity sensor data.

Whatever the objectives of the intervention, accurate data will reveal the reality of its success in meeting them. Comparing pre- and post-implementation data provides the robust, comprehensive evidence needed to demonstrate impact, reinforcing the necessity of the intervention.

3. Communicate your success

Unbiased, empirical evidence to commute success and develop a proud sense of place

According to Centre for Cities, the UK’s leading think tank dedicated to enhancing the economies of the largest cities and towns, levelling up should improve the standard of living across the country and help every place reach its productivity potential. There are many ways to measure prosperity, but one of the most effective gauges is the pride a community feels for the place that they call home.

To cultivate that pride, evidence of progress and success is key. Communities may have had reservations about the introduction of new infrastructure, and may be sceptical about its impact. Local authorities that are equipped with accurate, non-biased data, will be best placed to clearly communicate an intervention’s ‘before and after’, and nurture that sense of pride and prosperity.

And you could be one of them! Get in touch to learn more about our traffic monitoring sensors.

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