A review of road use data pricing, partnerships and accessibility

The report considers the issues of pricing, partnerships and accessibility in relation to road use data, traffic and network performance data. The aim of this report is to provide information on industry practices and inform the discussion on possibilities and the future arrangements for road authorities with respect to access to road use data. The pricing models and methods are found to be well established. However a strategy to deal with increasing numbers of specialised requests from both internal and external users is required. An associated issue with pricing is in determination of pricing for reselling on original and transformed information. In the interim, it is suggested, as the demand for such information, products and services is only just beginning, and as increased dissemination of information is in the public s interest, that pricing be either free, variable cost based or based on full cost recovery where appropriate. As the market develops, it may be possible to change to market based pricing at a later stage. Road authorities can either play a role as a supplier of data to the aggregator or become a key partner in the new aggregator. It is recommended that road authorities consider a partnership in the emerging aggregator as there are key benefits in terms of control over the information outputs and content. As a public sector organisation and particularly in relation to road use and traffic data, it is recommended that users and service providers have as much access as possible to the permitted data and information.