This paper describes the bus audience model created by The MVA Consultancy to provide audience measurement of advertising on London's buses. The model was successfully launched in 1991 with the approval of JICPAR (Joint Industry Committee for Poster Audience Research) and has undergone close scrutiny by the advertising industry. BUSADS - Bus Audience Data System - is comprised of three databases: bus network database; home interview survey; car video survey; which are combined to provide both pedestrian and vehicular audiences of bus advertising campaigns. Since 1991 BUSADS has been subsequently updated and enhanced. It now offers audience measurement of 13 different site types; pedestrian and vehicular audience for inner/outer London campaigns; audience sensitive to hours of daylight; audience segmentation by up to 200 lifestyle variables; London population and London TV area audience estimates.
This paper discusses London Underground's continuous Customer attitude research program: known as the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI). It is written in the spirit of describing the genesis of an actionable management information tool: one that now forms the prime business goal of the worlds' oldest and most comprehensive urban rapid transit system. The paper covers: the development of the CSI; the interviewing and sampling technique used; how the information is reported and (using real data) shows how changes in the Underground's service affect Customers' satisfaction. Some simple suggestions for maximising response rates and controlling fieldwork costs are given. The paper also explains how this very large, mature organisation is managed, and how that structure is reflected in the research. The CSI is intended to be read and understood by staff at all levels within the Underground: from Train Operators to the Managing Director. The paper concludes by showing the value of a continuous tracking study such as the CSI when outside factors suddenly affect the organisation. This is illustrated by reference to CSI research carried out after a spate of terrorist attacks on London's transport network.
This paper describes the development and implementation of a research programme devised to evaluate the customer service and transit time performance of carriers within the international air express industry. More specifically, the research which was eventually commissioned by DHL, was designed to produce evidence which could be used in communications to disprove the commodity theory accepted by some buyers of the sector, that is, that all major suppliers offer near identical service standards, the sole differentiator being that of price. The paper gives a brief description of the air express industry, and examines the difficulties and challenges to be overcome in developing a robust and objective measurement system. It proceeds to examine the design considerations and the trade-offs that took place, to arrive at a methodology which provided statistically reliable findings capable of route-by-route analysis, at a reasonable price! The paper will then move on to examine the research technique in operation; how theory was turned into practice. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the successful use of this international research programme on two fronts: internally and in advertising/promotions.
The paper describes the methods used, and results obtained, in a study of passenger priorities for improvements at rail stations. The Dutch Railways (Nederlandse Spoorwegen) are constantly seeking to upgrade their services and facilities in an endeavour to maintain and develop patronage in the face of the growth in car ownership and usage. The refurbishment of stations is linked to the establishment of a marketing concept, requiring a detailed understanding of passengers' perceptions and priorities. The investment involved in the refurbishment programme must be justified in terms of an expectation of increased revenue.
The RATP, a public service and autonomous enterprise, has always been concerned with "customer satisfaction". A consensus of usage has been created around this term by the RATP and the authorities to which it is responsible: who would not want to satisfy the customers ? This desire to satisfy its customers forms part of a general philosophy of the enterprise where it was both seen and saw itself as a servant of those citizens who were not in a position to use private vehicles on a regular basis. Such customer satisfaction was seen as a particularly vague and not very explicit concept: as such it was not likely to justify the taking of very detailed decisions. Whilst good sense and a strict observing of transport conditions had allowed a simple approach to the efforts to be made by the enterprise, in the sense that the necessary priorities could be clearly seen whilst the assumed dissatisfactions of the users confirmed the difficulties of the enterprise, this concept could be used without posing any major problems. This conceptual vagueness was useful for those inside and outside the enterprise who shared the same vision of things, a vision which we could term administrative.
The RATP, a public service and autonomous enterprise, has always been concerned with "customer satisfaction". A consensus of usage has been created around this term by the RATP and the authorities to which it is responsible: who would not want to satisfy the customers ? This desire to satisfy its customers forms part of a general philosophy of the enterprise where it was both seen and saw itself as a servant of those citizens who were not in a position to use private vehicles on a regular basis. Such customer satisfaction was seen as a particularly vague and not very explicit concept: as such it was not likely to justify the taking of very detailed decisions. Whilst good sense and a strict observing of transport conditions had allowed a simple approach to the efforts to be made by the enterprise, in the sense that the necessary priorities could be clearly seen whilst the assumed dissatisfactions of the users confirmed the difficulties of the enterprise, this concept could be used without posing any major problems. This conceptual vagueness was useful for those inside and outside the enterprise who shared the same vision of things, a vision which we could term administrative.
On the basis of the survey results discussed and the passenger flow prognoses, the team has designed the timetables for the intercity passenger trains 1987. The planning was preceded by a definition of the future four intercity train types: ordinary express train, new type express train, sleeping car and car carrier. A new train type to be introduced will be the express train designed for business travelling. The times of departure and arrival of these trains have been adapted to the demands of the business travellers (time of arrival in Helsinki before 10 o'clock; time of departure from Helsinki, between 15 and 16 hours). Study results suggest that business passengers appreciate high speed and high standard of service. The travelling times of these express trains have been shortened, e.g. by a reduction of stops. The level of service in these trains will be improved in comparison with the present express trains.
This paper describes a major study of two rail investments in Glasgow. The main results are presented with commentary on their relevance to the evaluation of similar investments and the lessons for the decision making process that can be learned from them. During the first year of operation on the BR suburban services affected by the investments traffic was 27% above its previous level. In the inner suburbs the increase was much larger (up to 70 per cent). Traffic on the Underground also increased but the effects of changes in operation, ticketing and fares had to be isolated from the effect of the modernisation itself.
There has been considerable interest, in recent years, in assessing the environmental effects of traffic. The purpose has been either to predict the impact of now roads and traffic management schemes or to identify those locations in most need of relief from undesirable traffic effects. It was thought important to know the actual levels of nuisance which particular traffic flows caused, the factors which caused nuisance and also the changes in people's opinions of nuisance when a change in the amount of traffic occurred. This interest was reflected in the attention the 'Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment' paid to the assessment of environmental factors as an essential element in the appraisal of trunk road schemes. New roads may increasingly be built for environmental rattier than traffic benefits so it has become more important to assess the environmental impact.
The remainder of this paper is concerned with describing briefly a number of exercises in which research technologies have been utilised in combination to assist in predicting consumer behaviour. Most, but not all are related to investment decisions. Where papers or results have been published references are given in the bibliography but it is, of course, characteristic of same of the studies that they are of transient interest or that there are political or commercial reasons for not disclosing their content.
By recourse to our study on Dutch long distance travel we seek to illustrate how social research can be used to assist in the development of mathematical models for the purpose of forecasting transport flows.