Le Jeune – INFORMATION – A COST-EFFECTIVE INVESTMENT 1992

Description

Barry Le Jeune’s paper assesses whether London Transport’s travel information services represent a cost‑effective investment. It outlines the organisation’s broad information provision—telephone enquiry bureau (handling ~1.8m calls/year with performance targets, Travelcheck recorded updates and Teletext feeds), printed publicity (maps, timetables, local bus guides), 13 Travel Information Centres (TICs) and innovations such as a computerised map database, braille materials, minicom lines and the Countdown real‑time bus display. Excluding Countdown, information costs exceed £5m annually. Independent research (1983, 1987) found telephone enquiries generate substantial travel: 68% of callers made the queried journey and 13% would not have travelled without the call, yielding an average revenue value of £2.75 per enquiry versus a 60p cost—over fourfold return. TIC studies (1990, 1992) show high conversion to ticket sales, increased visitor use of public transport and measurable daily travel value from TIC visits and tourist folders. Conclusion: well targeted information stimulates additional travel and ticket revenue, making provision a cost‑effective investment.