Modifying public transport - a survey

[lae]

Hi all. I would appreciate it if you could fill in a research survey for my MDes degree, it's about transport so it's not unrelated.

kwiksurveys.com/s.asp?sid=74nazis7k1k3cg944671

Mods, please remove this if it's not allowed.

PM me if you'd like to see the results.


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Part Deux!

It's a bit rough-and-ready. If a question isn't applicable to you, then you don't have to answer it.

kwiksurveys.com/s.asp?sid=1pxemkojk1j57xt61760

I got 99 responses to the last survey which provided a mountain of data, so thanks very much!

[Mystery Machine]

You've missed out a HUGE market sector....

...my private vehicle (a 4x4 people carrier converted to a van) is used because it simply wouldn't be possible to carry all my tools and equipment on a bus. I can only just fit them in my van. Plus I can be at five or six different properties a day all over the city, let alone offices to collect keys and suppliers to collect materials in between.

You don't give any option for necessity. For that reason I didn't do the survey because it's imbalanced.

[Dez]

I'm the same as bruce. public transport doesnt even begin to understand my needs let alone meet them. i live in a rural area and work in another one- if i wanted to travel the 15 miles from one to the other, it would take me over 3 hours. by the time i got there id have to set off back again!
then, i need to take lots of stuff with me quite often and I'm always filthy and have a dog in tow as well.
try getting on a rural bus with 3 toolboxes and a dog, and having to change 3 times to get to where you want to go. necessity is why cars are used.

[MrSpeedy]

What's "public transport" ?

[MiataMark]

Nov 8, 2012 0:24:07 GMT MrSpeedy said:

What's "public transport" ?

It's where you sit and listen to people's "public" conversations....

[Lawsy]

your question has no merit - the biggest issue with public transport along with 'overall speed of journey' is cost - unless you are soleley basing the questions on people who use them purely in town centres?
If current public transport vehicles were as fast, reliable and widespread as private transport, would you continue to use private transport?

What about cost?

I can drive a 15mpg vehicle to work for less fuel than just one of the 3 buses I would have to take costs - let alone the 25 minute journey turning into a 2.5 hour nightmare



Surely the biggest answer to public transport issues is to get the multiple hundreds of different routes off the roads in town centres, 1 road near me has 12 different routes end up travelling down it..
Less buses and more car sharing websites would be the way forward!

[waveman1500]

The survey doesn't mention convenience. There is a crucial difference between being 'fast' and being convenient. For example, where I live, it's roughly 45 minutes drive to the city (Adelaide, South Australia). The train to the city takes 30 minutes, and they run roughly every 30 minutes. If I time it right, then the train is just as fast as driving, but if I'm late by 5 seconds and watch the train leaving as I run to the platform, then I'm instantly half an hour late! I have done it many times.

Anyway, after catching the train to university for years, I finally got a motorbike. The great advantage with the motorbike is that they have free parking anywhere in the city, and there is always a space! It's fantastic. On the bike, compared to a car, I save about 10 minutes that I would have spent looking for a park, use about a third of the fuel and the parking is free. It's even quicker than the train. The biggest hassle is having to carry your gear around when you get to your destination. I'm safety conscious and won't ride without a jacket, gloves, heavy boots and usually kevlar jeans, all of which weighs you down as you walk around! A lot of people don't seem to value their skin as much, so they have no such issues.

[ianboyd]

I have done the survey, but to be honest the only form of public transport I use is a taxi from the pub, living in a rural town, means that your own transport is a necessary, the bus service to the next biggest town 8 miles away, takes an hour, via all the villages, which you would have to suffer if you wanted to use the train, then when you get to the city, you would still have to get around, if your on your own an get pensioner concessions, then public transport can work cost wise, but add another person and the cost is invariably much higher and far less convenient,

When I lived in Budapest I used public transport exclusively, but that's when it works, and you can't achieve the same level of service in towns and villages!

[SamR380]

I don't really have a problem with the survey, but I didn't really understand question 9... did you mean 'if there is a bus waiting at your front door, ready to leave whenever you are, to go directly without stopping to where you want to go, in the same time it would have taken you in a car, would you use it rather than driving?'

The answer would be yes, but I couldn't get my head around it being a realistic proposition, so I said no. Was it just a hypothetical situation or have I completely misunderstood?

[composimmonite]

Survey doesn't include me - I'm retired albeit early. Also I can't use public transport as can't walk to and from bus stops as disabled so private transport is essential to avoid me being housebound.

Paul H

[MiataMark]

I'm guessing that the underlying question is that everything else being equal, speed, convenience etc what puts people off using public transport.

Which does kind of miss the point for mist people. I live near Swindon and the only time I use public transport is to go to London and other major cities that are accessible by mainline train services. Because it's quicker and and actually less hassle in those circumstances. I tend to use the bus to the station as it's cheaper and unless you travel early there isn't anywhere to park, I'd rather drive for the convenience of not waiting around for buses.

I used to work in central Swindon and could have used the bus, instead I used a <20mpg car as it was cheaper, but then I got free parking and much easier.

Will making public transport more like private transport in terms of privacy, comfort etc encourage more people onto it probably not a lot and has been by said for many people public transport just isn't viable.

But hey let's encourage more people on to public transport as it frees up the roads

[Mystery Machine]

Nov 8, 2012 13:09:50 GMT MiataMark said:

But hey let's encourage more people on to public transport as it frees up the roads

Not in Bristol it doesn't!

In their infinite wisdom and in order to walk around all smug patting themselves on the back for implementing such an 'amazing, forward thinking' scheme, Bristol City Council decided to remove all the 'lay by' bus stops and move them right out into the road.

Yep, instead of pulling into the bus stop to let passengers on & off, faff with their change and hunt for their bus passes, while cars, trucks (and even other buses) could go by....now they stop in the middle of the road which forces all the car behind to stop too.

The 'amazing' but actually very narrow minded thought process behind this was so that the bus could pull out quicker rahter than having to wait for a few cars to pass before someone lets the bus out.

Such a great idea (so the Council obviously think to have warranted spending millions moving all the bus stops into the middle of the road) but you should see the traffic jams it has produced since being introduced. Not just a slight increase, but simple gridlock where nothing can move because it's all backed up behind the bus. Including all the other buses.

I sometimes used to get the bus into the city centre (once every few months) and it would take about 15 to 20 mins max. Since introducing the new bus stops, it takes more like 45 mins and I can walk in a lot quicker than that, so normally do.

The last time I walked in, I overtook the bus that had just left the bus stop near my house. And the bus in front of that. And the bus in front of that...in fact I think it was five buses I passed...and all the cars trapped in between them.

Sheer chaos...but the council will still say it's the motorists blocking the roads. It could never be the bus. Oh no!

Public transport is an absolute joke in places like Bristol where narrow minded planners almost go out of their way to cause traffic chaos. In places like London, the system works..the tube is amazing and people can, and DO, manage to get around the city without too much fuss or bother. I've always managed to get around London very easily and efficiently on buses and tubes, but my personal experience with public transport in Bristol tells me that there is a massive, enormous and almost incomprehensible difference in the way it works in some places....and simply doesn't in others.

[VND]

I work in public transport, for a public transport provider and I drive to work.
Basically because as a public transport operator, the company I work for has a punctuality target of 85%.
As an employer however, they expect my punctuality to be 100%.
If I traveled on the services that the company I work for provides, I would be disciplined and eventually dismissed for being late.

[pablopancake]

Nov 8, 2012 14:48:58 GMT VND said:

I work in public transport, for a public transport provider and I drive to work.
Basically because as a public transport operator, the company I work for has a punctuality target of 85%.
As an employer however, they expect my punctuality to be 100%.
If I traveled on the services that the company I work for provides, I would be disciplined and eventually dismissed for being late.

brilliant!

same here, no useful routes, can't get to work, can't get to family or friends without heading in the wrong direction and then catching a 2nd bus

can't have public transport too good or too cheap, need to keep the pounds flowing out the drivers pocket into the treasury, leccy cars will start getting squeezed soon, too many people went for it and their pounds are starting to be missed

[montythemole]

We have kids so loading them and the pram onto buses, standing in the rain waiting for a bus whilst they learn swear words off the chavs smoking at the stops is not happening.

[guslopez]

Nov 8, 2012 13:28:21 GMT Mystery Machine said:

Nov 8, 2012 13:09:50 GMT MiataMark said:

But hey let's encourage more people on to public transport as it frees up the roads

Not in Bristol it doesn't!
narrow minded planners almost go out of their way to cause traffic chaos.

They always did in Bristol . It was always known as the town that hated the car.

I have only been on a bus & a train once ,since passing my driving test.
When I lived/worked in the UK public transport is useless if you need to be in multiple places during the day complete with 2 tonnes of equipment.
As others have already pointed out if you live in the countryside two vehicles at least are a necessity .
I would prefer never to go anywhere rather than ever use public transport in the UK.

[ben711200]

I got asked to do a survey at work recently. Presumably filtered down from the (London based) parent company. A quick look at the location of where I work- on the outskirts of a rural town where no busses pass made the survey laughable to 95% of the employees.

I commute from the Bridgwater to Yeovil. If I were to use public transport, I'd have to walk a mile or so to get a bus to Taunton, and then get another from Taunton town centre to somewhere in Yeovil and walk at least half a mile or so to work. I could drive in for less cost and in the same time that the two walking sections of a public transport journey would take. Public transport just isn't viable for the vast majority of people outside large cities, and if MMs example is anything to go by, even then you will probably struggle..

All things being equal- journey time, cost, convenience etc. I'd jump in the car every time. I value my privacy.

[Deleted]

No buses to get me to work at 3am even if i wanted to

[lae]

Part Deux!

It's a bit rough-and-ready. If a question isn't applicable to you, then you don't have to answer it.

kwiksurveys.com/s.asp?sid=1pxemkojk1j57xt61760

I got 99 responses to the last survey which provided a mountain of data, so thanks very much!

[waveman1500]

Survey completed.

The question "I enjoy doing nothing" is a bit nihilistic and philosophical!