Northern Ireland Road Network and Condition Statistics 2023-24

Key points

Road Length

• At 1 April 2024, the total road length in Northern Ireland was 25,922 kilometres.
• Unclassified roads accounted for the largest proportion of all roads (61.1%) followed by C roads (18.2%), B roads (11.3%), A roads (8.9%) and Motorways (0.4%).

Road Condition

In 2023-24:

• 79.9% of A class roads in Northern Ireland were categorised as being in generally good condition, 17.8% were in average condition and 2.3% were in poor condition requiring further investigation. This is based on the Surface Condition Assessment for the National Network of Roads (SCANNER) survey.
  
• 93.5% of the combined motorway and Trunk Road Network had a residual life of more than five years remaining in the sub structure of the road i.e. the base of the road and not the surface of the road (Deflectograph survey).
• 103,746 surface defects were instructed for repair following inspections on the roads in Northern Ireland.
• 93,674 surface defects were repaired.

Road Expenditure

• In 2023-24, the total expenditure on the roads in Northern Ireland was £458 million, 3.8% higher than in the previous year (£441 million in 2022-23).
• Over one quarter (26.3%) of the total expenditure on roads in 2023-24 was on Structural Maintenance (£120 million); this included almost £98 million on capital expenditure and just under £23 million on resource. A further £74 million (16.2%) was spent on New Construction and Improvement.

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Introduction

This report brings together information on road length, condition and expenditure in Northern Ireland for 2019/20 to 2023/24. This is an official statistics report produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI). DfI has responsibility for the road network in Northern Ireland and under Article 8 of the Roads (Northern Ireland) Order 1993, it has a statutory duty to maintain the province’s road network. This report has been produced in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics, complying with the pillars of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value and is published annually.

Background

A Northern Ireland Audit Office Report Structural Maintenance of the Road Network made a number of recommendations, including, that DfI should publish information on the condition of the road network to support independent monitoring and inform decision-making. A survey previously carried out on Northern Ireland Transport Statistics also identified an interest in the road network statistics formerly produced within Chapter 1 of the Transport Statistics bulletin. Furthermore, the volume of queries received by DfI relating to the road network highlighted that there is a need to publish robust statistics on the road length, condition and expenditure in Northern Ireland.

Uses of the data

This report is used for a range of purposes, for example, to inform policy and operational decision making and to respond to queries. In Spring 2024, a survey was issued to users of the report and findings showed that the primary uses of the report were for general information, operational decision making and monitoring/ benchmarking purposes.

User information

The report includes user guidance and is published alongside a Background Quality Report (BQR), Quality Assurance of Administrative Data report (QAAD) and Technical Report. The BQR provides information on the quality of the data used to produce the official statistics, including their accuracy and reliability, coherence and comparability, and timeliness and punctuality. The QAAD is a quality assessment of the administrative data sources which are used to produce the road network and condition statistics. This assessment found that the level of risk of quality concerns in these sources is low. The Technical Report includes detail on the more technical aspects of the data used to produce this statistical report.

Data from this report is also available on the NISRA data portal and on a NISRA interactive dashboard. More information on the data portal and interactive dashboard is included in the user guidance.

Users should refer to the user guidance section when considering the statistics in this report. In terms of road condition statistics, it is important to note that not all road classes are covered by the road condition surveys reported for example, unclassified roads which accounted for the largest proportion of all roads (61.1%) are not covered by the survey statistics.

Furthermore it should be noted that the level of inspections on the roads will impact the number of road surface defects instructed for repair. The number of surface defects repaired is also dependent upon resources being available to undertake the repairs. More detail on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Road Condition statistics is detailed in the user guidance.

Road Length

Data on road length are extracted from the Road Maintenance Client System (RMCS) and more detailed information on this system can be found in the user guidance and QAAD.

At 1 April 2024, the total road (route) length in Northern Ireland was 25,922 kilometres. Unclassified roads accounted for the largest proportion of all roads (61.1%) followed by C roads (18.2%), B roads (11.3%), A roads (8.9%) and Motorways (0.4%).

Analysis of the urban / rural split of the road network reveals that 77.1% of all carriageway road lengths were rural (speed limit of more than 40 mph) and 22.9% of all carriageway road lengths were urban (speed limit of 40 mph or less). An analysis of the road network, excluding motorway and dual carriageway roads also shows that 77.1% of single carriageway road lengths were rural and 22.9% were classified as urban.

Following engagement with key stakeholders, we are proposing that motorways and dual carriageways are excluded from the urban / rural analysis of the road network in future editions of this report. This will mean that the content of Figure 1 and the associated tables will change. Please refer to the user guidance for more detail as we would welcome user feedback.

(Carriageway road lengths include the sum of the lengths of each carriageway of a dual or motorway section).

Figure 1: Percentage of urban, rural and all road lengths by road class at 1 April 2024

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In 2023-24, the highest proportion of all carriageway lengths in Northern Ireland was located within DfI Western Division (37.7%), and the lowest was in Eastern Division (9.6%). Within each DfI Division, unclassified road lengths make up the largest proportion of road lengths with 70.5% of roads in Eastern Division being unclassified, followed by Southern, Western and Northern Divisions with 61.9%, 60.6% and 56.9% respectively. The map below presents the total road length for each Local Government District (LGD). (It should be noted that LGD boundaries do not coincide exactly with boundaries used by DfI Transport and Roads Asset Management (TRAM) for road maintenance purposes). Fermanagh and Omagh has the highest length of roads across all road types with 3,997 km compared to Belfast which has the lowest length of roads at 1,094 km.

Further data on road length by classifications and Local Government District are available to download below or from the NISRA data portal. These data can also be viewed on the NISRA interactive dashboard.

Figure 2: Total Road Length (carriageway km) by Local Government District at 1 April 2024

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Road Condition

In Northern Ireland, the condition of the road is expressed in a broad number of ways and by a number of various survey techniques. The road condition statistics in this report are based on two key surveys: SCANNER (Surface Condition Assessment for the National Network of Roads) and Deflectograph. Further detail on these surveys is provided in the user guidance and in the Technical report.

Data on surface defects instructed and repaired are also included in this report; these are downloaded from the Road Maintenance Client System (RMCS) and further information on these data can be found in the user guidance and in the QAAD.

SCANNER

SCANNER (Surface Condition Assessment for the National Network of Roads) is a nationally accredited survey and is undertaken under contract. It consists of a number of laser sensors mounted on a purpose-built vehicle. It travels at close to traffic speed and measures the condition of the road in terms of a number of parameters including the extent of surface cracking, ride quality, wheel-track rutting and alignment. The SCANNER survey is undertaken annually on the majority of road classes; including: 100% of the Trunk Road Network (TRN) and A class network in one direction each year, with the opposite direction being surveyed the following year; and on 25% of the B & C Class network each survey year in both directions. Official statistics from the SCANNER survey are not currently available for unclassified roads.

A map of the TRN can be found below, and additional maps of the road network are available on the DfI website.

The outputs from the SCANNER are combined to produce a Road Condition Index (RCI) which is the industry standard measure for road condition currently in use. An RCI greater than 100 (classified as being red) indicates poor road conditions and a requirement to plan maintenance soon; an RCI between 40 and 100 (classified as being amber) suggests the road is in average condition and should be investigated soon; and an RCI less than 40 (classified as being green) means the road is in good condition.

The parameters are scored against different definitions for different types of road. This is so that maintenance is prioritised for roads that are more frequently used. This means that the ‘red’ category, for example, is not comparable across road classes such as , “A”, “B” and “C”. In other words, an ‘A’ road categorised as red could be in identical condition to a ‘B’ road categorised as amber.

The most recent SCANNER survey carried out in 2023-24, showed that 79.9% of A roads were categorised as green, 17.8% were considered to be in average condition while 2.3% were classed as red, in poor condition and requiring maintenance. The proportion of A roads categorised as green in 2023-24 was lower than in previous years while the proportion in average condition was higher. The proportion of A class roads in poor condition (red) has remained at approximately two percent (see Figure 3). The proportion of B class roads in good condition has continued to increase slightly each year since 2019-20 while the proportion in average or poor condition has slightly decreased. In 2023-24, the proportions of C class roads in good, average or poor condition were on a par with the figures for 2022-23.

Figure 3: Percentage of roads in good, average or poor condition by class 2019-20 to 2023-24

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The map below shows the percentage of A class roads in good, average or poor condition by Local Government District in 2023-24. The percentage of A Class Roads in good condition ranged from 73.4% in Newry, Mourne and Down to 86.6% in Antrim and Newtownabbey. Newry Mourne and Down had the highest proportion of A class roads in poor condition (3.9%) while Causeway Coast and Glens had the lowest proportion at 1.3%.

Further detail on the percentage of roads in good, average or poor condition by Local Government District and road class is available in the accompanying spreadsheets and also on the NISRA data portal and can be viewed on the NISRA interactive dashboard.

Figure 4: Percentage of A class roads in good, average or poor condition by Local Government District in 2023-24*

*Use the radio button on the top right hand corner of the map to view the percentage of A class roads in either good, average or poor condition by LGD. The palest colour in each map shows the lowest percentages while the darkest shade represents the highest percentages.

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Deflectograph

Deflectograph surveys are carried out by an accredited slow-moving vehicle that measures the deflections of the roads surface under defined loading and uses this information to calculate the residual life of the road and the need for structural repairs; essentially this survey assesses the structural integrity of a roads base and natural foundations. Currently Deflectograph surveys are carried out on one third of motorway, TRN and non-trunk A roads each year in NI. The survey provides a percentage of roads which have more than five years residual life remaining in the road structure, and it is recommended by the Department (DfI) that this figure should be above 85%.

Over the past five years being reported (2019-20 to 2023-24), over 85% of all motorway, TRN and non-Trunk A roads had a residual life of more than five years remaining. The statistics for the most recent year (2023-24) show that 93.5% of the combined motorway and TRN had a residual life of more than five years remaining.

Figure 5: Percentage of Trunk Road Network, motorway and non-trunk A roads with residual life of more than five years: 2019-20 to 2023-24

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Surface defects instructed and repaired

Data on surface defects instructed and repaired are derived from the Road Maintenance Client System (RMCS). More detailed information on this system can be found in the user guidance and in the QAAD. These data only relate to carriageways, hard shoulders and laybys; data on footways and maintained laneways are not included. Surface defects do not include defects such as white lining, deflective signage etc.

Surface defects are recorded on the RMCS following safety and condition inspections being undertaken on the roads by DfI staff, the level of inspections on the roads will impact the number of road surface defects detected. When a repair is carried out, RMCS is updated to reflect that a surface defect has been repaired. It should be noted that defects repaired in one financial year may have been reported in a previous financial year and there may be a lag between a repair being carried out and the RMCS being updated. The number of surface defects repaired is also dependent upon resources being available to undertake the repairs.

Figure 6 shows that in 2023-24, there were 103,746 surface defects instructed for repair in Northern Ireland. This was an increase of 3,259 (3.3%) when compared to 2022-23 (100,487). There were 93,674 surface defects repaired in 2023-24, an increase of 8,774 (10.3%) when compared to 2022-23 (84,900). The number of surface defects instructed and repaired was lowest in 2020-21 when there were restrictions in place in Northern Ireland due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More detail on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the statistics is detailed in the user guidance.

Figure 6: Surface defects instructed and repaired in Northern Ireland 2019-20 to 2023-24

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Figures 7, 8 & 9 show the number of surface defects instructed and repaired by Local Government District. In 2023-24 Newry, Mourne and Down had the largest number of surface defects instructed (21,276) and repaired (16,445), while Lisburn and Castlereagh had the lowest number of surface defects instructed (4,292) and repaired (4,028) amongst all the LGDs.

Data on surface defects instructed and repaired by LGD and financial year are available on the NISRA data portal and can also be viewed on the NISRA interactive dashboard.

Figure 7: Surface defects instructed and repaired by Local Government District 2023-24

*Use the radio button in the top right hand corner of the map to show either surface defects instructed or surface defects repaired by LGD.

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Figure 8: Surface defects instructed by Local Government District 2019-20 to 2023-24

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Figure 9: Surface defects repaired by Local Government District 2019-20 to 2023-24

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Road Expenditure

Data on public expenditure on NI roads are extracted from Account NI, more detailed information on this system can be found in the user guidance and QAAD.

In 2023-24, the total expenditure on the roads in Northern Ireland was £458 million, 3.8% higher than in the previous year (£441 million in 2022-23). Over one quarter (26.3%) of the total expenditure on roads was on Structural Maintenance (£120 million); this included £98 million on capital expenditure and £23 million on resource. Whilst expenditure on Structural Maintenance (resource and capital combined) decreased by almost £7m since 2022-23, spending on New Construction and Improvement increased by approximately £8 million and accounted for 16.2% of the total spend in 2023-24 (£74 million); this increase was mainly in relation to expenditure on the A5 strategic road scheme. For further information on definitions and changes over time see user guidance.

Figure 10: Total public expenditure on Northern Ireland roads 2019-20 to 2023-24

£ thousands	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
All road expenditure	446,558	449,897	476,548	440,772	457,506

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Figure 11: Public expenditure on Northern Ireland roads by category 2019-20 to 2023-24

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Source: DfI TRAM and Account NI

User Guidance

General information

This annual report presents statistics on the Road Network and Conditions in Northern Ireland, and it brings together information on road length, condition and expenditure. This is an official statistics report produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI). It has been produced in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics, complying with the pillars of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value.

Data Quality

Readers can find out more information on the quality of the statistics in this report by accessing the Background Quality Report (BQR). The BQR informs users about the quality of the information upon which they may be drawing conclusions and making decisions.
A Quality Assurance of Administrative Data (QAAD) report is also available. This contains information on the quality of the administrative data that is included in the Northern Ireland Road Network and Condition Statistics report. It covers a quality assessment of the data on road length and on surface defects instructed and repaired (all within the Road Maintenance Client System (RMCS)) and on public expenditure on NI roads (Account NI). These are the administrative data sources which are used to produce the ‘Northern Ireland Road Network and Condition Statistics’ report. The assessment found that the level of risk of quality concerns in these sources is low and that the public interest is low. Readers should also refer to the Technical Report for more detail on road condition surveys.

Glossary of Technical Terms

A glossary of the technical terms used in this report is included in the Technical Report.

Road Length

The data relates to the length of DfI maintained roads each year at 1 April. The data are collected from RMCS which is managed by DfI, more details on the quality of this data can be found in the QAAD.

Road classifications

Motorway - A normally dual carriageway road designed for higher speed traffic with designated places for joining and leaving.

Trunk Road Network (TRN) - Motorways and all-purpose trunk roads owned by DfI who have responsibility for maintenance and operation. These are strategic roads with a high proportion of long-distance traffic although some trunk roads may also have lengths, with the same number, designated as an ‘A’ principal road, where traffic is predominantly local in nature.

A roads - major roads intended to provide large-scale transport links within or between areas.

B roads - roads intended to connect different areas, and to feed traffic between A roads and smaller roads on the network.

C roads - smaller roads intended to connect together unclassified roads with A and B roads.

Unclassified roads - local roads intended for local traffic.

Maps showing the network by each road classification can be found here

Route kms and Carriageway kms

Route kms is the distance between two points on the road network, regardless of whether the section is motorway or dual carriageway. Whereas carriageway kms includes the sum of the lengths of each carriageway of a dual or motorway section.

Exclusions from Road Length figures

Figures for Motorways exclude slip road lengths. Stretches for car parks and footpaths are also excluded from the figures.

Local Government District (LGD)

It should be noted that LGD boundaries do not coincide exactly with boundaries used by DfI for road maintenance purposes.

Urban / rural split for road network

Rural - Rural roads are roads that have a speed limit of more than 40 mph.

Urban - Urban roads are roads that have a speed limit of 40 mph or less.

When a section of road is being added to the RMCS the Database Administrator in the relevant Division makes a note of the speed limits on the road in question and assigns the urban / rural attribute accordingly.

As mentioned in the Road Length section of this report, following engagement with key stakeholders, we are proposing that motorways and dual carriageways are excluded from the urban / rural analysis of the road network in future editions of this report. This currently has a minimal impact on the overall percentages for the urban / rural breakdown but brings the definition in line with what is used elsewhere (eg Northern Ireland Road Safety Strategy (NIRSS) to 2030 Annual Statistical Report, 2024 ). The operational need for defining urban / rural in the current way is no longer required by key stakeholdersstakeholders and the User Engagement Survey did not identify a significant external need for these data. However, ASRB would welcome views from users who may still require the current definition. If you have a use for these statistics, please contact ASRB@nisra.gov.uk or complete the ASRB Customer Survey outlining any comments you have on the Road Network and Condition Statistics Report.

Road Condition

In Northern Ireland road condition is expressed in a broad number of ways and by a number of various survey techniques, including SCANNER and Deflectograph. Surface Defects instructed and repaired are also included in this report

SCANNER

The Department collects data from SCANNER surveys, this is a vehicle mounted survey used to collect a wide range of data on the condition of the roads, from cracking to rutting to edge condition. This is used on all roads, except unclassified roads.

Road surface condition categories are based on multiple parameters collected by SCANNER machines and scored against different definitions for different types of road. This is so that maintenance is prioritised for roads that are more frequently used. This means that the ‘red’ category, for example, is not comparable across road classes such as , “A”, “B” and “C”. In other words, an ‘A’ road categorised as red could be in identical condition to a ‘B’ road categorised as amber. See Technical Report for more details.

Deflectograph

The Deflectograph is a method of assessing road conditions and is a vehicle operated survey machine. This expresses data as residual life remaining in the sub structure of a road i.e., the base of the road and not the surface of a road. In Northern Ireland this technique is used on the Trunk Road Network (TRN) and the remaining A Roads (see Technical Report for more details).

Surface Defects

Instructed and Repaired

Data on surface defects instructed and repaired are derived from the Road Maintenance Client System (RMCS). More detailed information on this system can be found in the QAAD.

Instructed - These include details of the number of carriageway, hard shoulder and layby surface defects (which includes potholes, cracking, depressions etc.) that were recorded and listed for repair in the reporting period.

Repaired – These include details of the number of carriageway, hard shoulder and layby surface defects (which includes potholes, cracking, depressions etc.) that have been repaired.

Classification of defects

Users should note that each defect is prioritised dependant on the severity and risk to the public according to the following classification (more detail is available in the technical report: -

• R 0 – Repair or make safe as soon as practical
• R 1 – Repair or make safe before the end of the next calendar day
• R 2 – Repair or make safe within five working days
• R 3 – Only Defects on low traffic, rural roads and medium and low traffic (high risk) footways to be repaired within four weeks
• R 4 – Repair during the next available programme or by target response time as specified, or review condition at next inspection.

The surface defect figures in this report cover defects that are classified as either R 1, R 2 or R 3. R3 defects which have not yet met intervention levels and are not yet recorded as per the definition above and R4 defects are not included in this report. Users should also note that surface defects are only included in this report following an inspection by DfI.

The Department does not maintain defect statistics specifically in relation to potholes. Highway inspectors in the Department can only record one defect category for each area needing repair. Defects are categorised according to their predominant feature; so if an inspector felt that the cracking was the predominant feature it would be recorded as cracking. It is for this reason that the Department does not work on the basis of potholes but on the number of surface defects.

Effect of time lag on recording of surface defects

Due to the varying times associated with surface defects being recorded, the numbers of defects instructed in any given year are not directly comparable with the number of defects repaired. For example, a defect could have been instructed in March 2020 but not have been repaired until April 2020. Readers should also note that there can be a time lag between a repair being carried out and the associated records being updated in the Department’s maintenance management system. Surface defect data were downloaded from RMCS for 2019/20 to 2022/23 on 17th October 2023 and on 28th August 2024 for 2023/24. An earlier download date was used in 2023/24 to facilitate a timelier report but at the same time allowing a reasonable amount of time for the RMCS system to be updated after the end of the financial year.

Limited road maintenance service

For a number of years / almost a decade, the Department has faced a significant budget shortfall and has had to reduce its Essential road maintenance activities to a Limited Service. This means that the Department is repairing only the highest priority defects along with the highest priority, safety related maintenance. Budget pressures continue and the available opening budget for 2023/24 was less than half the amount required to deliver a ‘normal’ Essential Maintenance service, and the current iteration of limited-service model remains in place.

Impact of COVID-19

During the time of COVID-19, many restrictions were brought into force to try and reduce the rate of transmission. DfI’s response to this was the implementation of the Safe System of Work 24 (SSW24) policy that was issued by the Department’s Health and Safety section. This detailed several requirements which had to be observed and met. One of these which impacted the Department’s ability to deliver Road Condition surveys was the “Travelling in and use of vehicles” where it stated, “Only one member of staff should travel in each DfI / private vehicle, unless 2m separation can be achieved”. This had an impact on the timing of the Deflectograph survey as seating within the Deflectograph vehicle was closer than the 2.0 m permitted. Once restrictions were eased sufficiently and SSW24 withdrawn, the surveys were carried out as before. The COVID-19 pandemic also had a similar effect on normal cyclical safety inspections, as well as repairs carried out on the road network in Northern Ireland. This was due to restrictions in place surrounding social distancing, members of staff affected by COVID-19 (isolating), use of work vehicles and work premises and supply chain interruptions.

Road Expenditure

Data on public expenditure on NI Roads are recorded by DfI staff on the Account NI system. End of year information on public expenditure is used to produce the annual accounts which are approved and audited by the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO). See QAAD for more details.

Categories of Public Expenditure

Public expenditure data on the Roads in Northern Ireland are classified according to the following categories: -

• New construction and improvement - this includes major and minor capital road schemes, land costs, street lighting - new installations, sustainable travel schemes such as cycling and pedestrian measures, park & share and improvements to structures such as bridge strengthening.

• Structural Maintenance- Capital- captures current expenditure (including depreciation, which is the current cost associated with fixed assets). This includes resurfacing and reconstruction, asphalt patching, surface dressing, capital investment in drainage infrastructure and capital investment in the structural stability of embankments.

• Structural Maintenance-Resource - captures new investment and financial transactions. This includes patching of carriageway and footways.

• Highway Structures - this includes maintenance of bridges and retaining walls.

• Routine Maintenance - this includes environmental maintenance (grass cutting, weed control, tree maintenance etc.), gully emptying and cleaning, fencing and minor repairs to embankments, cuttings and verges.

• Traffic Maintenance - this includes road markings, safety fences & guardrails, energy to illuminate traffic signs and signals and maintenance of traffic signs and signals.

• Winter Maintenance - this includes salting and snow clearance.

• Public Lighting - this includes maintenance and energy.

• Park & Ride/Share Sites - note that this does not include the cost of Decriminalised Parking Enforcement.

• Other - this is expenditure which is not detailed in the categories above such as some administration overheads, liability costs, payments to the Departments Public-Private Partners (PPP) for their Operating and Lifecycle costs linked to maintaining the road network lengths constructed by them through Design Build Finance and Operate (DBFO) arrangements, road drainage charge from Northern Ireland Water, contractual costs associated with Enforcement of Parking and Moving Traffic offences, purchases of Fleet, IT and other Plant Property and Equipment (PPE) and Active Travel Grants (e.g. Greenway Grants).

Further information on the reasons for changes in the road expenditure figures between years is highlighted below.

The New Construction and Improvement spend increased from 2019-20 due to strategic road improvements between Randalstown and Derry. However, from 2022-23 spend reduced due to these road improvements being in their final stages. During 2023-24, an increase in spend relates to works on the A5 strategic road scheme.

Structural Maintenance: Out-turns will have been determined by budget availability and capacity in any given year. Expenditure is also impacted by timing of delivery of large contracts. For comparative purposes the impact of COVID-19 restrictions in the early months of 2020-21 deflated the spend in that year.

Highway Structures: The lower expenditure in 2023-24 compared with 2022-23 was due to a reduction in the number of schemes being delivered.

Routine Maintenance: Increased costs in 2023-24 were due to the delivery of additional essential maintenance works following storms/flooding and included increased contract works.

Winter Maintenance: 2020-21 reflects snow events in January and the expenditure impact of COVID-19 related safe systems of work, this explains the increased spend from previous years. Spend dropped again in 2021-22 due to a mild winter. Expenditure in any given year will have variations due to the severity of weather in that year, as well as increases in treated km lengths of the network and exceptional items such as COVID-19 measures.

Public Lighting and Traffic: Energy for traffic signs and signals plus public lighting have been impacted by increased gas prices from 2021-22 which subsequently reduced again in 2023-24 due to the drop in gas prices.

Park & Ride/Share Sites: The increase between 2022-23 and 2023-24 reflects additional support costs in the provision of car parking services.

Other Expenditure: The increase between 2022-23 and 2023-24 was primarily due to inflation in key service contracts and budget availability.

Code of Practice

This report is published in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics. It complies with the pillars of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value. Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

Guidance on using the data

Rounding of figures

All calculations have been undertaken on the basis of unrounded figures.

A number of tables contain rounded data and therefore there may be a slight discrepancy between the total and the sum of the constituent items.

Revisions Policy

The data presented in this bulletin are revised by exception; therefore, any revisions to the figures in this report will typically be as a result of definitional changes or corrections to errors and the impact will be quantified where possible. However, as noted, the data for the most recent year relating to surface defects instructed and repaired will be reviewed prior to the next publication and a decision will then be taken if a revision is required. This is due to the time lag in recording surface defects on the RMCS. The Revisions and Errors Policy for statistics produced by DfI is available on the DfI Website.

Accessibility

Accessibility is the ease with which users are able to access the data, also reflecting the format in which the data are available and the availability of supporting information. This publication is published in HTML format and every effort has been made to comply with the AA standard under the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. If any document is not in a format that meets your needs, please contact ASRB with your requirements. This statistical report and associated documents are available to download free of charge.

Data from this report is also available on the NISRA data portal under the theme Travel and Transport and can also be viewed on the NISRA interactive dashboard. This allows users to view and filter the dataset, plot and visualise data on interactive charts, create favourite tables and widgets, share your results, access data in multiple formats (CSV, JSON-stat, PX and XLSX) following the Open Data recommendations and automate processes by reading data via API queries.

User Feedback

We welcome feedback from users on this statistical report. We particularly welcome the views of users on the exclusion of motorway and dual carriageway from Figure 1. Please send any comments you may have to ASRB@nisra.gov.uk. Users can also provide feedback through our ongoing ASRB Customer Survey. In line with the Statistics User Engagement Strategy, ASRB will ensure that this statistical report remains relevant to users.

Acknowledgements

ASRB acknowledge the assistance received from colleagues in DfI and would like to thank them for their contributions to this publication.

Useful Links

BQR

QAAD

Technical Report

User engagement outcome summary

Pothole reporting service

Scottish Transport Statistics (Chapter 4 – Road Network)

Welsh Road Lengths and Conditions

English Road Condition

Carriageway Surface Defects - Datasets - Open Data NI

This operational dataset on surface defects contains carriageway surface defects recorded on public roads maintained by DfI TRAM in Northern Ireland. This dataset is a raw dataset of all defects (not the specific definitions used in these statistics) and data for the most recent year are automatically updated each evening. These data are not directly comparable to the data downloaded from RMCS for the production of the official statistics.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland

Technical guide for English Road Condition report

The RAC also produce a pothole index using their members’ breakdown data. However, these data are not referred to in this report.

Contact Information

Map

Map showing Trunk Road Network (TRN) in Northern Ireland

Further maps of the Road Network in Northern Ireland are available.
Users should note that these maps were downloaded from RMCS in March 2022. A map displaying the current network of adopted roads in Northern Ireland can be accessed via this link.