Milton Keynes sits between Oxford and Cambridge along a Growth Arc that has been identified by the UK Government. Transport links between the two economically successful university towns were to be enhanced by extending both the East-West Rail connection and the Expressway in order to combine growth benefits linking key centres across the Oxford-Cambridge corridor.
While at Space Syntax, Eime led an assessment of the socio-economic impacts of these infrastructure projects on Milton Keynes residents. Through a series of discussions with the client, Eime’s team created a set of KPIs that reflect socio-economic values for Milton Keynes residents, such as exposure to job opportunities, walkability to social infrastructures, access to the city centre and potential reduction in car dependency. These KPIs were measured for the baseline and future scenarios using a predictive computer model.
Based on the study which indicated that those regional infrastructure projects have limited benefit to the everyday lives of Milton Keynes residents as standalone projects, Eime advised Milton Keynes Council to extend the local public transport network into areas that were underserved. She also recommended that the Council consider revising the then proposed masterplan to make better use of existing social and transport infrastructures to ensure that the benefits from the proposed infrastructure could be maximised by improved first/last mile connectivity. Key findings and recommendations from the study were included in the Council’s report to the National Infrastructure Commission on its local transport strategy and business case.