Cadence’s accessibility features played a major role in helping Somerset undertake a Transport Needs Assessment.
The purpose of the project was to enhance the understanding of rural mobility needs from a data-led perspective, developing and testing algorithms and techniques for planning rural transport (e.g. bus services) in ways that can address traditional data gaps.
Using Cadence extensively, in particular the in-built accessibility tools, Somerset Council were able to evaluate access to healthcare, education and other essential community needs, enabling planners to understand the effectiveness of active and public transport networks. This highlighted that frequency and journey times limit access to hospitals and education.
Key data insights included an understanding of travel patterns, demographics and accessibility. These insights were combined with policy, best practices, and user needs analysis to develop a series of service improvement strategies. A key characteristic of the Somerset bus network is its design to support coverage of the wider community, which has resulted in journey times between origin-destination pairs (e.g. larger built-up areas) being quite uncompetitive with private car journeys. The planning team developed a series of interventions, visualising and communicating these in Cadence to ensure stakeholder engagement throughout.
Outcomes
The project recommended service trials to improve access to hospitals and education within an hour by bus and rail. The innovative features of this project have led to it being shortlisted for the Innovation Award within the CIHT South West Awards 2025.