During the month of September, Lancashire County Council conducted a survey on the views of bus passengers and non-passengers alike. The purpose was to discover what people thought about the county's bus service, what they liked and didn't like and if they didn't use the buses what would need to change to persuade them to do so. The results were used to inform the development of the Bus Service Improvement Plan, which sets out proposals for major improvements to bus services from next year. The survey could only be completed online via the County Council's website and, knowing that the site was not widely read by local people, the Bus Users' Group promoted it widely on social media as did those local county councillors who take an interest in buses and the Bus User Group.
Our promotion seems to have paid off. Out of 2,552 responses fully one-third came from Lancaster! In contrast Rossendale District produced 2% and Hyndburn just 1% of replies. Lancaster bus passengers can therefore rest assured that their voices were heard (and hopefully listened to!) at County Hall
Lancaster residents comprise only 12% of the population of the county council's administrative area, so in fairness have been over-represented. Twenty per cent of responses came from NoW card holders, whilst 70% were from the 25 - 64 age group. Young people, who are major bus users but who only provided 10% of responses, were grossly under-represented, which is disappointing for an online-only exercise.
What Did the Survey Show?
- 89% of passengers felt safe when travelling by bus.
- 59% of passengers agreed buses were "reliable" (although only 11% "strongly agreed"
- 50% of passengers thought buses affordable (although 20% of respondents were NoW card holders who benefit from free travel)
- 59% of passengers agreed it was easy to get information on buses, although only 15% "strongly agreed" and if the respondents were regular users they were unlikely to need to seek information for most journeys.
- 54% of passengers found bus services did not meet all their needs.
Why people don't use buses.
Respondents who said they didn't use the buses said that was because they:
- "are too expensive"
- "are too slow"
- "don't go to where I need to travel to"
- "are too difficult to get information on times and routes"
What would make people travel more by bus?
Consistent with these findings, the most frequently-cited attribute to encourage
respondents to use bus, or to use bus more frequently, was lower fares, followed
by tickets that could be used on other modes, and availability of multi-operator tickets.
Respondents were then asked about the influence of ‘soft’ measures – over half
said that the ability to track your bus, and real-time at stops and interchanges
would encourage them to travel by bus more often. Only 1 in 5 cited Demand-Responsive Transport (DRT) services
or the availability of wifi and USB charging.
Where do we go from here?
The survey was intended to inform the development of the Lancashire Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), which was published at the end of October and which sets out the measures the County Council and bus operators will implement from next April to improve the bus network, subject to the requested funding being awarded by government. The Council has asked for £165m over the next three years but, realistically, doesn't expect to get the full amount. How much of the BSIP will be implemented depends on the level of funding received and every other local authority with transport responsibility in England is simultaneously bidding for funds from a limited pot.
The Bus Users' Group will be discussing the BSIP in our meeting on Thursday, 18th November at 14.45hrs in Lancaster Library. The meeting is open to everyone and those attending are asked to wear a face covering.
