Bird – INFORMATION FOR PASSENGERS 1973

Description

This 1973 study examined why passengers need public transport information, assessed existing provision, and recommended improvements to attract car users. Using interviews, enquiry-office surveys and a postal survey, it found information presentation generally poor: signage, timetables, maps and on‑vehicle/roadside displays were often inadequate, inconsistent, hard to find or outdated. Car drivers benefit from ready maps and signs; public-transport users must piece together multiple, sometimes unavailable data. Operator case studies showed variable practices—some travel centres and publications are effective, but interchange, multilingual provision, station/stop signing and inter-operator coordination are weak. Enquiry offices reported referrals, timetable stockouts, limited hours and delays; roadside information has been cut back and suffers vandalism; passengers often miss or distrust announcements. The report calls for multidisciplinary design input, centralised information offices in large towns, free arrival-point phones, integrated multimodal maps and timetables, standard symbols and colour-coding, expanded enquiry services, and research on information delivery and passenger behaviour to improve clarity, coordination and patronage.