Introduction
Since its launch in 2008, the National Highways and Transport (NHT) Public Satisfaction Survey has provided local authorities across the UK with a consistent and independent measure of Public Insight into Local Transport Services. Now in its eighteenth year, the survey remains the most comprehensive benchmark of resident satisfaction with local transport, capturing views across key themes including highway maintenance, accessibility, public transport, walking and cycling, road safety, congestion, and communications.
The 2025 results continue to offer valuable insight into how the public perceive the quality, safety, and management of local transport networks. While some areas — such as street lighting and personal safety — remain strong, others, notably road condition, congestion, and the management of maintenance works, show continued decline. The overall trend across the survey is one of gradual reduction in satisfaction, reflecting growing expectations and increasing pressures on local transport networks.
- Highway Maintenance and Enforcement
Satisfaction with Highway Maintenance and Enforcement has declined consistently over time, with the theme score falling from 51 in 2017 to 43 in 2025 — the lowest since the survey began. Public concern over the condition of roads and pavements, particularly potholes and repair quality, continues to dominate this area.
The Condition of Highways (KBI 23) has dropped from 36 in 2017 to 27 in 2025, while Highway Maintenance (KBI 24) has fallen from 49 to 43. Lighting remains the strongest performing area, maintaining satisfaction levels around 60 despite slight decline. Benchmark indicators show marked deterioration in road surface quality, drainage, and pothole repair, while winter maintenance and street lighting continue to perform well.
Overall, the findings indicate a long-term erosion of satisfaction with road maintenance, linked to visible deterioration, slower repairs, and concerns about drainage and verge upkeep.
Summary: Public confidence in highway maintenance has fallen steadily, driven by perceptions of worsening road condition and pothole management, even as lighting and winter services remain comparatively strong.
- Accessibility
The Accessibility theme continues to perform relatively well, though scores have declined slightly over time. The theme score stands at 67 in 2025, down from 70 in 2017.
Access to key services remains positive: local shops (ABI 03) score 78, and health facilities (ABI 05) and schools (ABI 06) remain in the low-to-mid 70s. However, access to hospitals (ABI 04) has dropped to 63, and access for people with disabilities (KBI 04) has declined to 62 — the lowest in this category.
Satisfaction with public transport connections and post office/bank access has also fallen, reflecting broader changes in local service provision.
Notably, the Quality Indicator for electric vehicle charging points (ACQI25) shows steady improvement, increasing from 26 in 2021 to 41 in 2025, highlighting growing public recognition of new transport infrastructure.
Summary: Accessibility remains one of the better-rated areas but has seen gradual decline, especially for disabled users and those without a car. While new infrastructure such as EV charging points is improving, access to essential local services is becoming more difficult for some groups.
- Public Transport
Satisfaction with Public Transport has fallen from the early 2010s highs of around 61 to 51 in 2025. While bus safety and driver helpfulness remain strong, other measures — particularly reliability, information, and value for money — have deteriorated.
Local bus services (KBI 06) remain stable at 56, but Public Transport Information (KBI 08) has declined sharply from 48 in 2014 to 36 in 2025. Satisfaction with punctuality (PTBI 04) remains low at 50, and with frequency (PTBI 01) at 54. However, personal safety on the bus (PTBI 10) and helpfulness of drivers (PTBI 09) remain among the highest scores, at 65 and 67 respectively.
Infrastructure provision such as bus stops (PTQI08) continues to score highly at 85, but information clarity and reliability remain weak.
Summary: Passengers continue to value the safety and helpfulness of staff but express declining satisfaction with reliability, frequency, and travel information. The physical network is viewed positively, but communication and service delivery remain areas for improvement.
- Walking and Cycling (Active Travel)
The Walking and Cycling theme has declined steadily from 55 in 2018 to 51 in 2025. Satisfaction with pavements, cycle routes, and rights of way has all fallen slightly, with the sharpest drops seen in the cleanliness (WCBI 03) and obstruction (WCBI 07) of pavements.
While provision of pavements (WCBI 01) remains relatively high at 58, satisfaction with condition (WCBI 02) and cleanliness has fallen to 46 and 41 respectively. Accessibility for people with disabilities (WCBI 21) remains low at 43.
Cycling scores remain modest but stable: Cycle route condition (WCBI 10) stands at 53, while information and signing for cyclists (WCBI 13–14) have improved slightly to 50 & 47. Rights of way and bridleways have maintained moderate satisfaction in the low to mid-50s.
Encouragingly, provision measures show improvement: cycle routes (WCQI15) have risen to 55, and pavement provision (WCQI30) remains high at 78.
Summary: While investment in infrastructure has improved provision, public satisfaction continues to decline due to poor maintenance, cleanliness, and accessibility. The results highlight a growing divide between physical availability and the day-to-day usability of active travel routes.
- Tackling Congestion
Tackling Congestion remains one of the lowest-rated themes, with the score falling from 47 in 2017 to 41 in 2025.
Traffic levels and congestion (KBI 17) are stable at 40, reflecting growing public frustration, while management of roadworks (KBI 18) has fallen to 42. The Traffic Pollution indicator (KQI 04) remains stable at 46, showing little change in perception of air quality.
Detailed indicators reveal continued dissatisfaction with roadwork delays and communication. Time taken to complete works (TCBI 03) now scores just 33, and efforts to reduce delays (TCBI 02) have fallen to 38. Scores for illegal parking (TCBI 11) and park and ride (TCBI 13) are also among the lowest in the survey, at 33 & 40.
Summary: Satisfaction with congestion management continues to decline, driven by frustration with delays, poor communication around roadworks, and limited improvement in traffic flow. While awareness of pollution is stable, tackling congestion remains a key public concern.
- Road Safety
The Road Safety theme has remained relatively stable but has seen a gradual decline since 2019, with the theme score now 50.
Local road safety (KBI 20) remains at 51, while road safety education (KBI 22) has declined to 46, showing reduced engagement with safety campaigns. Speed limits (RSBI 01) and speed control measures (RSBI 02) remain strong, both around 61–52, while provision of speed controls (RSQI09) is consistent at 64.
However, satisfaction with the safety of vulnerable users has decreased:
- Safety of walking (RSBI 04): 57
- Safety of cycling (RSBI 05): 49
- Safety of children cycling to school (RSBI 07): 43
Education and training scores remain low, with young driver training (RSBI 10) falling to 43.
Summary: Public perceptions of speed management remain positive, but concerns persist about the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and children. Education and awareness remain low-scoring, suggesting a need to refocus road safety campaigns on vulnerable users.
- Communications
The Communications theme continues to score below other areas, with a stable but low theme score of 46 since 2021.
Residents consistently report feeling under-informed about local transport and maintenance, with most “well informed” measures in the 40s or below.
- Awareness of public transport (CMQI04) and highways and transport (CMQI05) sits at 46 and 43 respectively.
- Information about road repairs (CMQI06) and air quality (CMQI07) remains very low at 29–25.
- Awareness of climate change and personal actions (CMQI18 & 21) is higher, scoring 59 & 64, suggesting successful communication in this area.
Scores for ease of contact and staff responsiveness remain static: reporting a problem (CMQI31) at 52, and quality of staff response (CMQI34) at 47.
Summary: Communication remains a persistent weakness. While climate awareness has improved, residents continue to feel poorly informed about roadworks, maintenance, and local transport services. Contact and response satisfaction remain modest, pointing to the need for clearer, more proactive communication.
Conclusion
Across all themes, the 2025 NHT Survey paints a consistent picture: gradual decline in satisfaction across nearly every area, punctuated by a few areas of stability or improvement — notably street lighting, winter maintenance, accessibility of core services, and the provision of new active travel infrastructure.
The public continues to express confidence in areas that are visible, well-maintained, and proactively managed, such as lighting and gritting, but concern persists around road surface condition, congestion, maintenance response times, and communication.
Overall Message:
The 2025 results underline the continuing challenge for local authorities to maintain service quality amid growing expectations and constrained resources. Sustained investment, improved communication, and greater coordination across services will be essential to reversing the downward trend and restoring public confidence in the transport network.
