Capes – TRANSPORT INFORMATION IN COUNTY DURHAM 1991

Description

Since 1978 Durham County Council provided and maintained roadside timetable information cases, growing to 424 sites by 1989 and meeting standards of legibility, site-specific detail, durability and impartiality. Vandalism (about 15% losses annually) was managed, but after bus deregulation in 1986 maintenance and timely updating deteriorated, leaving many displays out of date by 1990. To measure use and impact, statistically robust household surveys (random 1-in-500 samples, ~700 responses in 1985, 1987 and 1989) estimated county-wide behaviour with high confidence. Key findings: regular adult bus users fell from ~242,000 (1985) to ~208,000 (1989), though 31 million passenger journeys were made in 1989; non-users rose sharply during deregulation. Over a quarter of adults had referred to a timetable case; about 53,000 people in 1989 were encouraged by cases to make trips they otherwise would not have (averaging six trips each), generating an estimated £100,000+ revenue. Telephone and friends were primary information sources; women used buses about twice as much as men, pensioner use remained steady. The surveys offer a reliable evidence base for future information policy.