Much data on the use of public transport and the characteristics of public transport users is routinely collected by public transport operators as well as the public sector. Despite much data being regarded as commercially confidential by operators, there is still a significant number of data sources readily available to the practitioner. Even in situations where public transport data is regarded as commercially confidential, it is often possible to make use of such data by anonymising the data, combining it with other sources or indexing data rather than using it in the form in which it is provided.
Practitioners should not be deterred by issues of commercial confidentiality. Often public transport operators will perceive a direct or indirect benefit from supporting a project or study and they will be willing to consider how their data can be used to inform the process, while at the same time ensuring their commercial interests are protected.
For identifying problems related to the use and operation of buses and coaches, the following are examples of potential data sources:
- Counts - local authorities often have cause to undertake bus passenger counts. These can be undertaken at bus stops where boarders and alighters are counted or can be passenger counts undertaken as buses cross screenlines. Such counts can either be taken on-bus (with the operators' permission) or off-bus by experienced surveyors. Count programmes may be undertaken to support a model development exercise or can be undertaken on a regular basis across a screenline with the object of monitoring temporal trends. A large study may warrant bespoke bus passenger counts to support the problem identification stage;
- Origin-destination (O-D) surveys - like roadside interviews, these are almost always undertaken as part of a model development exercise. Also like RSIs, bus O-D surveys contain much rich data on the passengers' profile such as their journey purpose, ticket type, access mode, and age and gender;
- Level of service data - in the deregulated era it can be difficult to keep track of changes to bus routes and the level of service on each route. Current timetable data should be available from operators. Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to provide information on bus services in their area, although the time required to process such data into a useful format should not be underestimated. Data on current fares is readily available from operators, but unless the mix of ticket types sold is known it is often difficult to identify the average fare paid. Often fares may appear to be increasing but the average fare paid may be static or decreasing due to greater availability or take-up of discount fares.
- Concessionary fares surveys - Transport Scotland which operates the National Concessionary Travel Scheme of Older and Disabled Persons and the Scotland Wide- Concessionary Travel Scheme for Young People, collect data to enable operator reimbursement; in addition, local authorities often routinely collect data to enable revenue allocation. Such surveys can often be a source of data for wider bus use and patronage trends;
- Satisfaction surveys - while an operator's own market research is likely to remain confidential, local authorities and other bodies are in a position to conduct their own bus passenger satisfaction surveys;
- Tendered bus services - data collected to support the tendering of social bus services can shed light on the changing pattern of bus service provision.
For data on rail services and passengers, the position regarding the availability of passenger counts and origin destination surveys is very similar to that for bus. Information on rail services is available from the published national passenger timetable and fares information is published in the National Fares Manual. The same sources can be used to look at changes over time. Again, calculating an average fare paid by rail passengers is difficult due to the wide availability of discount tickets and limited period offers.
Additional sources of data on the rail industry include:
- Reliability and punctuality performance - train operating companies are obliged to monitor and publish the reliability and punctuality of their services against standards established as part of their franchise agreements; and
- Customer satisfaction surveys - including the National Passenger Survey undertaken by Passenger Focus and surveys undertaken by individual train operating companies. See Section 17.4.
