How was it for you? Measuring transport users’ emotions

11 April 2016

How did your journey make you feel? It’s not a question we have been able to ask passengers – until now.

As the independent watchdog, Transport Focus has represented passenger views using satisfaction ratings for various core elements of transport services. Now, building on our work on whether passengers trusted their transport providers, we are able to monitor how journeys are impacting on passengers in more details.

Our report Passengers’ relationship with the rail industry confirmed that performance is what really matters – a good service is the cornerstone to building and maintaining trust. We are also very aware that poor information is a key driver of dissatisfaction. However, this research also showed emotions are key to establishing a trusting relationship with passengers,

That’s why we set up an app to take ‘in the moment’ emotional reactions and turn them into data, that is then used to drive real change on the ground. Researchers recruit passengers as they make journeys to make sure that there is a representative sample of total travellers taking part.

Our recent work on punctuality emphasises that passengers want a rail service they can depend on to the very minute. Using the new tracking measure, we can demonstrate the very real shift in emotions within minutes of a delay occurring.

To find out more about this project, or to discuss working together with Transport Focus, please contact our Head of Insight, Ian Wright, on 0300 123 0832 or Ian.Wright@transportfocus.org.uk.