The tool scores places in England and Wales on how well connected they are to health services, education, shopping, leisure and workplaces.
- a new clear way of measuring what is a 'sustainable location' for development around transport projects
- the full Connectivity Tool is now available to built environment professionals, setting a national metric of connectivity
- a new Connectivity Tool Lite version will be released for the public, we're opening up access online to everyone, free of charge
Transport projects will be better connected to jobs, shops, schools and healthcare thanks to a new Connectivity Tool launched for planning professionals.
The web-based tool will help built environment professionals and planners in England and Wales give schemes a 'connectivity score' and better map them to essential services, helping to place them in areas that are better connected and easily accessible by walking, cycling and public transport.
Sustainable development is a core aim of the UK's planning system, but progress has been hindered by the lack of a clear way of measuring what a sustainable location in transport terms is. The Connectivity Tool tackles this problem by combining transport and land‑use data in an innovative way to generate the first nationally agreed connectivity score for every location.
A trial version of the tool was launched last June. Now planners and built environment professionals can access the complete tool and a second lite version has gone live to the public, allowing communities to explore connectivity in their area and understand how transport links support access to other services.
By establishing a clear, evidence‑based standard, the tool will:
- help ensure new homes, jobs and services are located where they can be accessed by sustainable modes of transport
- support local authorities, developers and planners in making better decisions about where development should happen and plan for the infrastructure needed to support it
- help to reconnect underserved communities, offering improved access to opportunities
- strengthen the government's wider mission of economic growth, ensuring transport investment unlocks opportunities across England and Wales
Lilian Greenwood, Minister for Local Transport, said:
Transport is central to unlocking growth. The Connectivity Tool gives planners and professionals the evidence they need to make better decisions about where development should happen, ensuring communities are well connected to jobs and services.
By making the tool widely available, we are setting a new national standard for measuring connectivity and supporting sustainable growth across England and Wales.
The Connectivity Tool is already being used to inform major growth projects. It is currently supporting the work on new towns, helping to understand the opportunities to make new towns accessible, well-connected and sustainable, in line with the New Towns Taskforce's recommended placemaking principles.
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