Transport User Voice – April 2019 – Chief executive’s editorial

26 March 2019

Talking to transport users in a digital age 

Transport Focus is developing its main tracker surveys to make sure they are as useful and value for money as possible. Striking a balance between feedback speed and representativeness is always a challenge.  

Governments and the transport industry need feedback that they can do something with – more noise is probably not that helpful. Transport Focus is currently reviewing how the National Rail Passenger Survey can be more digital, more continuous but more useful for the industry. More details about changes to survey, which will eventually feed into our road and bus work, are outlined in this month’s newsletter. 

Please also take time to look at Transport Focus’s new data hub. More and more data is being loaded up to this new, much easier to use resource in April (the latest Bus Passenger Survey data is already there). You can select the questions you are interested in, test your own assumptions, compare operators, regions, even countries – you name it! Please tell us if you like it and find it useful. 

Transport Focus’s latest research provides a number of good challenges to local authorities, Highways England, airports and others this month. The latest Bus Passenger Survey and coach passenger report show what great transport choices are on offer. 

This research shows that operators and the transport industry need to make it easier to help people choose coach and bus. The gulf between perceptions about coach and bus travel and the modern reality is huge. Investment has really paid off – more modern vehicles, contactless payment, Wi-Fi, USB charging points and great apps that allow you to track journey progress. More ondemand services are also appearing in the coach sector.  

We all need to make it easier to make more sustainable transport choices – as long as they are high quality, passengers will feel their consumer choice is validated. 

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