Authoritative and consistent road network dataset for Scotland and rest of Great Britain available in one place.
Scottish Street Gazetteer data added to OS MasterMap Highways NetworkOS,
Life has been made simpler and easier for local authorities and others in the public and private sector.
A collaboration between Ordnance Survey, the Geospatial Commission, Scottish Government and Scotland’s Improvement Service, enabled by the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA), has integrated Scottish Street Gazetteer data into both OS MasterMap Highways Network and OS Open USRN (Unique Street Reference Number) products.
This means that for the first time that authoritative street data, associated to a USRN, for the whole Great Britain is available in a single seamless dataset.
Previous differences in the way Scottish, English and Welsh authorities organised their road network data prevented a complete British dataset being available from a single source.
Members of the PSGA and OS Licensed Partners can get access to and use the integrated data in OS MasterMap Highways Network.
In addition, the OS Open USRN product will now also include the USRNs from the Scottish Street Gazetteer with associated generalised geometry.
This expanded dataset will continue to be free to all, accessible through the OS Data Hub.
OS Director of National Mapping Services, John Kimmance, said: “This development means that OS can now offer the most comprehensive view of Britain’s road network yet, and will enable a wide range of services to be delivered more efficiently and consistently across the whole region.
“Delivered through the Geospatial Commission’s Public Sector Geospatial Agreement this is illustrative of OS’s strong commitment to providing continued access to world-leading location data.”
Scottish Government’s Chief Data Officer, Albert King, said: “Integrating Scottish data from the Scottish Street Gazetteer into OS MasterMap Highways Network and OS Open USRN will create a single authoritative view of the road network.
“This data already underpins many of our public services and we welcome the opportunity to make it available more widely to help create value in our services and economy.”
The Geospatial Commission’s Director, Thalia Baldwin, said “Transport is one of the nine location data opportunities identified within the UK Geospatial Strategy. The creation of a single, Great Britain-wide highways dataset is a significant step forward for both the UK’s transport infrastructure and net zero priorities, enabling more efficient route planning, that in turn supports a reduction in carbon emissions.”
Who benefits in the public sector?
Public sector organisations across Great Britain will benefit immediately, but particularly those in who are working cross-border between England and Scotland.
The previous lack of a single source of authoritative street data meant they were sometimes faced with the challenge of a variety of divergent data sources that needed to be brought together to create a single view of the road network.
With all road data now available in a single dataset, it will make planning asset management, community transport or emergency services much simpler, and enable those operating cross border to plan in a holistic and consistent way.
Users can identify the authority responsible for a road, or valuable information to improve road planning schemes.
It will also help recognise difficult locations where a permit is required.
The addition of Scottish data to OS Open USRN will enable those without a license for OS MasterMap Highways to utilise information from public sector organisations across Scotland using USRNs and visualising with a location.
It will also enable public sector organisations to link and share their own data associated with the USRN externally to members of the public and other organisations.
Who benefits in the private sector?
Utility companies who work across all three nations can utilise authoritative data that is consistent GB wide.
Logistics, insurance and retail businesses operating across Great Britain can now have a more efficient analysis programme, more efficient planning.
They only need to look at one dataset for a common operational picture of Great Britain’s roads, rather than drawing information from a range of sources.
Further information about OS MasterMap Highways Network and OS Open USRN is available from www.os.uk.