Freight Environment Review Software
A systematic framework for the study of freight provision
streetaudit - FERS
FERS (the Freight Module)
FERS is used to assess and rate freight and logistics activity in street environments.
FERS can be used to quickly and cost-effectively assess the quality and suitability of streets in terms of:
- Loading capacity
- Signage
- Infrastructure provision
- Access routes
- Safety
- Provision for specialist industries such as cash-in-transit and brewery
Why use FERS?
In many busy urban areas freight makes up a significant proportion of all traffic movements and street capacity. This is coupled with the difficulty and congestion caused by manoeuvring into loading spaces and often inappropriate loading caused by a lack of provision. By better understanding what, why, and how freight moves within an area, its impacts can be addressed.
FERS can be used to identify many different problems in the freight environment including; where demand and capacity for freight space are mismatched, non-compliant or misleading signage, damage to infrastructure, difficulty in accessing an area, difficulties in moving vehicles around an area, theft of goods (especially cash-in-transit), risk to the driver and other street users and congestion caused by freight activity.
The TRL streetaudit approach consists of three integrated components:
- A comprehensive handbook for users giving guidance on the physical review.
- Data collection sheets for use on-site.
- Specially designed and developed software to allow for rapid analysis and comparison of routes and spaces.
With FERS, reviews are quick to conduct and present a cost-effective method for assessment of freight provision with information that is consistent, easily comparable and clearly presented. FERS from TRL is available now.