The change in MAST's stewardship from DfT grant with operational support from the Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership (TVSRP), to management by RSA has proved to be an excellent model but the two operations (TVSRP & RSA) were still intertwined, notably sharing offices and personnel.    When it became clear at the start of this year that all employment through TVSRP would be lost in the absence of a Specific Road Safety Grant, the team were working pretty furiously to find a sustainable model for the business, and security of employment for the team.

With the enormous support of the 6 Highway Authorities in Berkshire and their shared commitment to work together on road safety initiatives, ‘Safer Roads’ has been retained - to be managed directly by RSA. Very different to the partnership from the old cost recovery days, the new service is highly focussed on improving efficiency in service delivery, supporting front line road safety staff, sharing expertise and carrying forward some of the excellent work that has emerged over the last few years.

Safer Roads [www.saferroads.org] has been the vital ingredient that has allowed RSA to grow from 1.2 staff primarily supporting MAST & Road Casualties Online, to a team who are able to offer a wider range of services and far greater security to the projects we have developed. Initiatives such as Area Profiling & new management tools like the enforcement reporting tool, V-Four, have all been protected by the move with RSA retaining its not-for-profit emphasis.

Taking the ‘Safer Roads’ brand under the auspices of RSA has also ensured that a range of communications campaigns such as the Prince Michael Award winning ‘Have a Kip’ campaign or the highly regarded ‘Safer Rider’, with its multi-million views YouTube viral, social media engagement, and training connections, are all continuing to the benefit of members.

With the growing range of services that now come under the umbrella of Road Safety Analysis, we have also just launched a new corporate website.  Pay the site a visit at [www.roadsafetyanalysis.co.uk] where you will find more details on the services we are able to offer and projects we are supporting.

So, like the mythical phoenix from the ashes, Road Safety Analysis has emerged as a stronger and more rounded organisation as a result of all the changes.  From moments when we thought we might all be out of work to a situation where the company has been able to give significant security to the projects it manages; MAST has probably never been more sustainable, nor the horizon looked so promising as we continue on the journey.

This blog was written by Dan Campsall, one of the directors of Road Safety Analysis, who is now sharing his time between supporting MAST and other online technology developments and the new focus on developing a new sort of multi-sectoral collaboration in road safety with colleagues in Berkshire.