Street Manager: what the new rules mean for you

Last month, we wrote about how regulations at the Department for Transport were changing, and what that might mean for the data you access with one.network.

We told you what we knew so far, and invited all our customers and users to send us their thoughts.

After reading everything you had to say, we began working more closely with the DfT to find a way of working within the data protection rules that would guarantee that our service to you — our users and customers — didn’t change too much.

Coming into 2021, we’ve reached a result that achieves that.

What are the changes?

We've made things as simple as possible to understand. 

Take a look at the flow chart to the left. It’s designed to guide you through what we will and won’t be able to show you, depending on the kind of user you are.

Public users stand to lose two pieces of data: the detailed descriptions of roadworks, and the detailed descriptions of their locations. There’s an example of these below.

However, you can still get additional information (and stay up-to-date): all you need to do is register, for free, on the one.network platform. Then you’ll be able to use email alerts, and get access to more of our updates as they come out. If you’d like access to our operational layers — the parts of our platform that let you monitor, plan, analyse, and communicate road events — you can also get in touch with our friendly sales team to find out what we offer.

If you work for an organisation that has Street Manager access, when you provide us with your login details we’re able to show you even more information. You’ll be able to use all the standard operational layers across one.network, plus any paid layers you’ve subscribed to as a one.network customer, and you’ll have works descriptions and location descriptions back.

What are works descriptions and location descriptions?

These are pieces of information designed to supply extra detail about any given roadworks, and where they’re carried out. They’re more sensitive than other bits of roadwork information, which is why the Street Manager rules affect them.

On the left, you can see (highlighted in turquoise) the location description and the description of the works scheduled to take place.

The rules do not affect the visibility of the works location shown at the top, nor any other information shown elsewhere on the card.

What do I need to do?

If you’re a public user, you should register on the one.network platform for free. It takes less than a minute, and guarantees you’ll keep your access. Once you’ve done that, proceed to the next step.

If you’re a registered user, you need to find out whether or not your organisation has access to Street Manager. Here’s what the Department for Transport says about eligibility:

“[To create a Street Manager account, you need to] work for a local highway authority in England, or a utility company or a contractor employed by those organisations.”

If that’s you, follow the instructions linked above, or get your Street Manager login details from the responsible person at your organisation. Then get in touch. We’ll guide you through the next steps.

Thanks as always to you, our users, for bearing with us whilst we make changes.