A Proposed Accessibility Score to Aid Public Spaces and Infrastructure Planning

Project Info

Team In2Teq thumbnail

Team Name


Team In2Teq


Team Members


Manny , Ronald

Project Description


Planning the use of finite spaces within our communities should always consider sustainable use. Thus, before anything is built, re-purposed, or revitalised, first we ask: how many people are already in the area, and how much more will it add?

Then we consider the mobility of people. How will people get to and from the place? Will it be by public transport, private vehicle, or alternatives?

If people will use public transport, is public transportation available? Are there bus stops or train stations within walking distance? Even if there are, what is the capacity of the buses and the trains? There may be a bus stop yet buses can no longer take in passengers when they get there.

If people will use a private vehicle, will there be parking available nearby? Will there be sufficient parking? How much will it add to the existing volume of cars? Will the roads be sufficient for the extra volume?

If people will use alternative modes of transport, is it accessible on foot? Is it accessible by bike? How safe is it for pedestrians, for cyclists and just for anybody in general?

Finally, we consider well-being. Does the community feel safe? Are public spaces available? How much green cover is there?

Our project is a proposal to supplement existing planning tools by harnessing government open data to answer these questions.


#public spaces #sustainability #infrastructure planning #accessibility #accessibility score #livability #local context

Data Story


We propose an accessibility score for a particular area. Accessibility score will be a function of the NSW Public Transport Accessibility Level (PTAL) and the PTAL equivalent to private and active transport. PTAL is based on accessibility of the public transport network in terms of distance from the nearest bus stop or train station, number of services and waiting times. We’ll enhance it with the data on the capacity of available services based on real-time service occupancy using the Transport for NSW GTFS realtime open data feed.

We will create the Private Transport Accessibility Level, pTAL with the small p. This is the equivalent of the private transport equivalent of the public transport measure, and the pTAL score is based on current volume of registered vehicles in the area, available parking both car parks and kerbside spots, and the road infrastructure in place. For this, we will be using Transport for NSW Vehicle Licensing Datasets, Parking and Council Data, as well as roads dataset within the NSW Digital Cadastral Database which represents an open way for the passage of vehicles, persons or animals on land.

We will further create the Active Transport Accessibility Level which scores availability of foot and cycle paths, elevation and difficulty grades, using both the Active Transport datasets and a subset of the roads dataset.

Every community should have green cover and access to public spaces. Information on the availability of, or proximity to, both green and public spaces will be made available using NSW Urban Vegetation Cover data and the NSW Public Spaces location data. The Government Property Index will also provide insight on government property utilisation, from which suitable candidates can be identified to be repurposed as public spaces.

These will be overlaid with the geolocated crime statistics from BOCSAR. People need to feel safe in their communities and in shared spaces. Crime data will provide insight on which areas will need preventative intervention, such as better lighting, more suitable vegetation, pedestrian access and facilities.

Whilst it is not government open data, we are also using Google Mobility as well as Apple Mobility data and will be open to use similar non-government but available data. This will further inform use and activation of shared spaces, particularly public spaces.


Evidence of Work

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Homepage

Project Image

Team DataSets

Apple Mobility Data

Description of Use Proposed to be used to determine people movement and how much time they spend on shared spaces.

Data Set

Google Mobility Data

Description of Use Proposed to be used to determine people movement and how much time they spend on shared spaces.

Data Set

NSW Urban Vegetation Cover to Modified Mesh Block 2016

Description of Use Proposed to be used to inform accessibility scoring as well as ensure a level of urban greening and heat island mitigation.

Data Set

NSW Crime Statistics

Description of Use Proposed to be used to determine areas prone to criminality to inform planning for preventative measures using infrastructure and environment.

Data Set

NSW Public Spaces location GIS layers

Description of Use Proposed to be used to determine available public spaces.

Data Set

Government Property Index

Description of Use Proposed to be used in determining nearby government property and any opportunity to re-purpose it as public space.

Data Set

NSW Transport Theme - Road Segment

Description of Use Proposed to be used to determine availability and capacity of roads in the locality.

Data Set

Parking and Council Data

Description of Use Proposed to be used to determine availability of parking in a locality, either via car parks or kerbside parking.

Data Set

Transport for NSW Vehicle Licensing Data

Description of Use Proposed to be used to determine volume of vehicles in a locality. To be used with NSW Roads data to determine road capacity.

Data Set

Active Transport

Description of Use Proposed to be used to inform Active Transport scoring, e.g. the availability of walking and cycling facilities in the locality. To be used with NSW Roads data set.

Data Set

Census of Population and Housing: Mesh Block Counts

Description of Use Proposed to be used to determine population and density for a locality.

Data Set

Australian Population Projections (ABS)

Description of Use Proposed to provide insights on population growth.

Data Set

Transport for NSW GTFS Realtime Data

Description of Use Proposed to provide service occupancy and capacity for public transportation in NSW.

Data Set

NSW Public Transport Accessibility Level (PTAL)

Description of Use Proposed to be used as a factor in determining the accessibility score.

Data Set

Challenge Entries

ACTIVATED Public Spaces

What makes a public space vibrant, walkable, and encourages people to dwell longer at different times of the day or night, and throughout the year?

Go to Challenge | 17 teams have entered this challenge.

BETTER Public Spaces

How do we help ensure everyone feels welcome and safe in public spaces (day and night) regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or identity?

Go to Challenge | 14 teams have entered this challenge.

Getting parking right: matching car parking rates to accessibility

How can we make a difference by making ‘accessibility’ measurable?

Go to Challenge | 4 teams have entered this challenge.

MORE Public Spaces

How do we unlock underutilised government owned land and property to create new, high quality public space?

Go to Challenge | 9 teams have entered this challenge.

ROAD TO RECOVERY Public Spaces

How do we build confidence in the community to use public spaces to support economic, social, cultural and environmental recovery, whether in response to Covid-19, or other disasters such as recent bushfires and floods?

Go to Challenge | 12 teams have entered this challenge.