Road Condition Explorer

Experimental Statistics (
)

Region: -
Urban / Rural: -
Road Length Quartile: -
Data Points: -

A Road Average RCI: -
B Road Average RCI: -
C Road Average RCI: -

National Statistics (2020 - 2021)

See the Official Statistical Publication here

	% Red	% Amber	% Green
A Roads	-	-	-
B + C Roads	-	-	-

National Statistics Notes & Caveats

The figures have been collected from Local Highway Authorities. From 2010/11 the National Indicator set was replaced by the Single Data List. Single Data List items 130-01 and 130-02 correspond to former National Indicators 168 and 169 which were collected between 2008/09 and 2009/10. Prior to 2008/09 the data were collected as part of the Best Value Performance indicators (BV223 and BV224a respectively). Further information on the Single Data List can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/policies/making-local-councils-more-transparent-and-accountable-to-local-people/supporting-pages/single-data-list
2010/11 was the first year these figures ceased to be National Indicators. The response rate is lower than before this date however a number of authorities have been able to supply previously unpublished data for 2010/11 which is now included in the table.
Alternative technologies to SCANNER surveys were used to collect data for some local authorities for principal ‘A’ and/or non-principal ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads. Where figures have been provided by a local authority using these alternative methods they have been flagged as they are not directly comparable with those authorities that undertake SCANNER surveys. In certain cases no data was provided by the local authority but have still been flagged if it is known they are using alternative methods. Local authorities that have confirmed the use of alternative technologies included: Blackpool (2014/15 onwards), Southend, Manchester and Stockport (2015/16 onwards). Bradford, Derbyshire ('B' and 'C' roads only), Blackburn and Southend (2017/18 onwards). Oldham, York, Derby, Derbyshire, Portsmouth and Bristol (2018/19). Kent have also confirmed using alternative methods on some C roads in 2018/19.
These local authorities confirmed they undertook SCANNER surveys alongside unaccredited software systems. Calderdale and Derby in 2017/18, North Tyneside in 2018/19.
From 1 April 2009, the former counties of Cheshire and Bedfordshire were replaced by newly created Unitary Authorities. Cheshire was split into Cheshire East, and Cheshire West and Chester. Bedfordshire was split into Bedford, and Central Bedfordshire.
National Indicators on road condition are not applicable for Isles of Scilly UA.

a. SCANNER (Surface Condition Assessment for the National Network of Roads) data are collected using automated road condition survey machines. Although each machine is accredited for accuracy and readings fall within the accepted boundaries of the SCANNER specification for road condition, there is still variability between the results that each machine delivers. This can lead to changes in the figures over time that are for reasons beyond the condition of the road, and above the expected range of variability that already exists within the data. Caution should therefore be taken when comparing the figures across years, and in particular for the local authorities and/or individual years that have been flagged in the table, as it is known that an outlying machine was used in these cases, or there was a known issue that affected the result. Further information on the nature of the issue can be found in the technical note (link referenced below). In addition, in 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2017/18 issues with certain survey vehicles affected the consistency of the SCANNER results reported by a small number of local authorities in these years. However, it has not been possible to identify the individual local authorities that were affected. Further information on the nature of the issues can be found in the technical note.

Symbols

r Revised
: Value not available
. Not applicable

Telephone: 020 7944 3095
Email: roadmaintenance.stats@dft.gov.uk
Notes and definitions
Technical note

The figures in this table are Official Statistics

Instructions

Click on a Local Highways Authority
- Then click on a smaller area to load the Road Condition Data
- A table will load showing summary statistics and a distribution chart
Use the controls above the map to change the Time Period of the data and the Classes of Road that are visualised.
Switch Local Highways Authorities by clicking the button in the top left of the map
Option to turn on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation using the checkbox in the top-right as well as the Strategic and Major Road Networks.

How SCANNER and the RCI measure support local authority maintenance strategy

This interactive map presents sections of the road network by their SCANNER Road Condition Index (RCI) condition category. Broadly, the sections of road categorised as red are the most likely to require maintenance, while the sections of road categorised as green are the least likely.

The SCANNER survey data and RCI provide local authorities with a broad, network-level understanding of the condition of local roads. However, the RCI does not provide all of the information needed to fully understand road condition, or to decide where maintenance is actually needed. Hence SCANNER data is a component of the overall toolkit deployed by local authorities to make informed decisions on maintenance. The data aims to help asset managers in local authorities decide where to focus further investigations but does not in itself identify where to undertake maintenance. Not all of the road sections for which investigation is suggested by the RCI will actually require maintenance. Additionally, while it is likely that many of the road sections reported as green by the RCI will not require investigation, other measures of condition (provided by other assessment tools) may identify a need for intervention on some of these road sections.

Methodology

The data shown on the interactive map is based on those local authorities that provided their consent to access their underlying SCANNER data where held by Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), who supplied the data to the department.
Some local authorities were excluded from the analysis for the SCANNER data report but their information has been displayed on the map. This included cases where the experimental statistics were not comparable to the previously published official statistics (based on local authority returns); where data was incomplete because a partial survey had been undertaken or where data was not provided at the time the analysis was undertaken.
Each data point on the map relates to a 10m sub-section of road that has been surveyed by a SCANNER machine in the selected time-period on the map (i.e. 2017-19 or 2019-21). Any duplicate sub-sections have been removed so that only the latest data for the time-period is shown on the map.
The average RCI scores are experimental statistics derived from the underlying SCANNER data. This differs to the published official statistics that are based on local authorities UKPMS outputs submitted to the department as part of an annual data collection.
Local authorities are currently required to collect SCANNER data for their classified roads, but unclassified roads are out of scope. Local authorities can use different surveying methods on unclassified roads and there is much lower coverage of SCANNER data for unclassified roads. Unclassified roads were therefore deemed to be out of scope for this project and is why no data is shown for unclassified roads.
Local authorities are only required to collect SCANNER data for their classified roads, not unclassified roads.
Data is not shown on all classified road sections on the map because local authorities are only required to survey 90% of their A roads in both directions every two years, 85% of their B roads in both directions and 80% of their C roads in a single direction
Not all sections of road that are surveyed produce an RCI value, these are typically instances where one of the core parameters has not provided a valid result, so no RCI value is generated. These road sections have been displayed on the map in grey to show the full extent of the network surveyed. For example, some vehicles are not able to calculate an RCI score when travelling below a certain speed.

Red, Amber, Green Definitions

Each 10-metre road section has been assigned a condition category based on the RCI value. The thresholds used to determine the categories of condition in this map are as follows:

0 to less than 40 = Green (Good condition - no further investigation or work is likely needed at this time).
40 to less than 100 = Amber (Likely to be some deterioration – work may be needed sometime in the future).
100 or more = Red (Likely to be in poor condition – further investigation may be required to determine whether this section of road should be considered for maintenance. The LA will decide whether any intervention is made).

See more Road Condition Statistics

A Roads

B Roads

C Roads

Red

Amber

Green

Click on an Local Highways Authority

Experimental Statistics

Experimental Statistics ()

National Statistics (2020 - 2021)

Experimental Statistics (
)