Following the summer launch of its 'Connectivity Tool' in a trial version, the Department for Transport (DfT) has now unveiled the finished product, plus a new 'Lite' version available to anyone without registration - helping the public find the 'connectivity score' of any location in England and Wales.

By combining transport and land‑use data, the tool generates the first 'nationally agreed connectivity score for every location', officials said.

The DfT added that planners and built environment professionals can now access 'the complete tool', while the lite version has also gone live to the public - helping people understand how well any location is connected to core services by walking, driving, cycling and public transport

Using this clear, evidence‑based standard, the tool aims to:

  • help ensure new homes, jobs and services are located where they can be accessed by sustainable modes of transport
  • support local authorities, developers and planners in making better decisions about where development should happen and plan for the infrastructure needed to support it
  • help to reconnect underserved communities, offering improved access to opportunities
  • strengthen the government's wider mission of economic growth, ensuring transport investment unlocks opportunities across England and Wales

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said: 'In June we launched the tool to all public bodies in England and Wales. Today, we are going a step further and opening up access to the tool online to everyone, free of charge, to help inform their plans, strategies and decisions.

'This landmark platform will serve as the new national metric of connectivity, transforming how we plan for new development and the transport infrastructure needed to support it, ensuring new homes and services can be easily accessed by sustainable modes of transport, helping kickstart economic growth, and delivering the government's house building targets.

'It will help to target investment in transport infrastructure that enhances connectivity to underserved communities, improving their access to opportunities. By helping planners and place-makers consider how to shape their towns and cities, it will ensure we are building homes that are part of vibrant and thriving communities and help unlock development sites.'

The new lite tool doesn't include interactive features, such as plotting new transport routes, however.

You can try the Connectivity Tool Lite version here: