Apr-2024

Study into the demographics and travel behaviour of the users of a smart ticketing system. The study finds that being educated, wealthy and younger increased rates of adoption, and vice versa. The study also found that longer-term smart ticketing users travelled more for recreational activity and work than non- and new users.

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Feb-2024

A manifesto produced to communicate demands for improved buses. Points include: decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing reliability, affordability and attractiveness of bus services, staying in touch with requirements of users, taking a cross-departmental approach to transport provision, improving accessibility, inclusivity and transparency, making fares simpler and fairer, lifting restrictions on concessionary tickets, and updating the law to make transport provision a socially necessary service, along with ring-fenced funding. 

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Jan-2024

Report highlights the importance of demand forecasting, noting that the public transport sector is particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in consumer demand for perishable commodities. The researchers propose a method of demand forecasting for passenger transport which attains a success rate of 98.45%.

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Dec-2023

Research conducted into the experience, technical expertise and resources available to Local Transport Authorities for the purposes of achieving the goals set out in the Bus Back Better Report. Study finds that there a number of issues in this aspect relating to lack of staff, especially in smaller LTAs, difficulties in the structure and knowledge of organisations and a reliance on short-term funding and outsourcing.

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Nov-2023

Paper makes use of smart card datasets to analyse factors that influence the behaviour in relation to bus line shift, focused on a case study of the public transport network in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Research indicates that users are generally inclined to bus line shifts than using the same lines, with such changes ocurring more frequently during late hours and inter-peak periods compared to morning and afternoon peak hours. Additionally, regular users are more likely to change lines than occasional users, and trips with discounts and smart card usage for transfers on trips home tend to involve different lines. The study considers several policy measures for mitigating passenger discomfort associated with changing bus lines.  

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Oct-2023

Report on the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the amount of concessionary travel taking place. Report notes a significant reduction (up to a third) in passholder journeys, with elderly people particularly affected. Additionally, whilst there was a decline of 2.6% in active passholders between 2019 and 2022, rural active passholders increased by 1.6%.

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Oct-2023

Report advocating for a reform of rail fares and ticketing to make travelling by rail more affordable, accessible and appealing. The report lays out a series of reforms to be made, and advocates for an arms-length body to be established to execute them. 

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Sep-2023

A report concerning how the 2017 bus services act might be used and amended to improve local bus services. Recommendations include: Updating the 2017 act to reduce the time and cost to set up a franchising model, ensuring that LTAs have operator information when needed, allowing all areas to have the same rights as MCAs to franchise services, removing restrictions on the creation of municipal bus companies, bringing together existing funding into a single devolved funding settlement and maintaining levels of bus investment through the next 5 years. 

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Aug-2023

Study conducts systematic review into the use of smart card data for analysing mobility patterns, noting that clustering and segmentation techniques have been adapted to conduct market segmentation and analyse urban activity locations.

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Jul-2023

Study providing and overview of transit apps used by various transit agencies in the United States. The researchers conducted interviews with 21 transport industry leaders, and synthesized perceived benefits and costs to transit apps. The study identifies five existing business models and emerging trends of transit apps and aims to improve transit app knowledge and provide practical recommendations for future improvements. 

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Jul-2023

Report into how older and disabled free bus pass holders may be encouraged to use buses, conducted in the context of the significant drop in concessionary use that occurred post-pandemic. The report suggests two possible reasons for this decline. The first is that concessionary users are simply getting out less due to the cost of living crisis and high street closures. The second suggests that the decline is patronage is due to a decline in bus services. The report claims that coronavirus plays a limited factor in dissuading bus use, with only 7% concerned about catching the virus due to using the bus.

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Jun-2023

Study intends to contribute to the measurement of activity-based social segregation between multiple groups using smart card data. Study was conducted in Stockholm county in Sweden, showing a slight decrease in segregation between 2017 and 2020. 

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Jun-2023

Study aiming to identify passenger profiles using smartcard in Santiago, Chile by studying their recovery post pandemic. The study identified two groups: those who returned to their pre-pandemic patterns, and those who adapted their mobility patterns. 

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Jun-2023

Study into why people do or do not use buses. Report finds that there is a sizeable group of people who have not returned to bus use post-pandemic, buses are perceived as inconvenient, there is some interest in more bus use, the £2 cap for buses provided value-for-money for many users, and a lack of knowledge about services discourages many users.

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Apr-2023

Analysis of survey data collected concerning bus fare data. Report looks into impact of different ticket categories (i.e. day tickets replacing, and exceeding return tickets), financial pressures on local bus services, preferences between multi-operator tickets and smartcards, reach of contactless payments, including tap-on, tap-off. 

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Nov-2022

Report investigating challenges and opportunity in smart ticketing for transport projects. The report highlights challenges such as: the high number of solutions - each having advantages and disadvantages - producing a complex landscape for procurers, lack of affordability for the systems, lack of standards means multi-operator/modal systems can be challenging to produce. The report highlights willingness to engage and understand of the importance of smart ticketing by operators, central and local government as key opportunities for smart ticketing. 

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Sep-2022

Study into the features of mobile ticketing applications used by train operators in the United States. Study compared the applications through four categories: the ticket validation process, ticket types offered in the app, additional features in the app and the process for transferring to other modes using the app. 

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Aug-2022

Two reports studying the implementation of a Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) pilot schemes in Denbigh, Pembrokeshire, Conwy Valley and Newport. Interviews were conducted with passengers, potential passengers, operators and local authorities.

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Jun-2022

Study investigating willingness to pay among public transport users for a multi-county, multi-operator integrated ticket. Study finds strong evidence that passengers are willing to pay, especially among men and non-commuting passengers. 

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Jun-2022

Report in the funding of bus services. Report notes the severe impact the pandemic has had on the provision of bus services. Suggests that the current strategy has produced funding gaps, as LTAs with smaller transport teams are less capable of applying for funding. Report suggests ways this may be remedied, but ultimately recommends a substantial increase in funding for bus services.

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