Durham County Council – COUNTY BUS AND RAIL GUIDE 1979

Description

Durham County’s Bus and Rail Guide, co-published with the National Bus Company since 1975, increased circulation from 6,600 to about 9,000 by 1979, but still reaches only a small fraction of the county’s 220,000 households. A 1979 random-sample survey (305 selected; 225 usable responses, 95% confidence ±6%) found 76% had never heard of the Guide and fewer than 9% owned a copy; over 90% felt it should be better advertised. Most respondents found timetables easy or fairly easy to use (only 2.1% difficult). Ancillary material—especially hospital information (78% “very useful”) and town maps (70%)—was highly valued; other useful items included the index, county route map, tourist information and list of enquiry offices. Respondents thought the booklet size was appropriate; opinion was split on countywide versus local area booklets. The 15p selling price was seen as low (average suggested ~21–33p); printing costs are ~65p, so subsidy remains necessary. Recommendations: substantially increase circulation and advertising, retain page size/layout, and repeat the survey if major changes are made.