;BG surveys to )eat cost spiral
Page 21
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
SURVEY designed to improve bus services is being underken in Perth and surrounding district by W. Alexander & )ns (Midland) Ltd. Costing an estimated £200,000, it is part a major bus review being carried out by seven member mpanies of the Scottish Bus Group.
A selective, house-to-house. rvey is also to be carried out
d 1000 households in the :a will be visited. This is to sess the need for new or anged bus services in an empt to help those who do t currently use bus services as as those who do.
Alexander's general inager, Mr James M. Begg, id that data from the surveys )uld be used to plan more ective bus services. "Rising sts mean that we have to take very careful look at the ser:es we are running, to see if can run our buses more 'iciently," he explained.
"As well as revised services: will probably be introducing ferent fare structures, aimed, encouraging people to use ir buses more in off-peak inods and at week-ends. The vings we expect to make will ean that the project will pay r itself in a very short time and II have consequential benefit future fares.'
The project is being called e Scotmap Project (Scottish arket Analysis Project) and le part of the survey has ready been carried out in imbernauld. "Our first survey
in the Cumbernauld area went very well," said Mr Brian Cox, planning and development officer.
About 80,000 passengers filled in forms and the data is about to be analysed by the group's computer in Edinburgh. We hope to implement the results later in the year."
The Perth findings are also to be fed to the computer and the results are expected towards the end of the year, at the latest. Alexander's sister company of 'Alexander's (Midland) has already carried out surveys on its services in some parts of Perth and in Dundee.
The survey in the Perth area will last until about this
.weekend. By today all 2 700 different bus journeys that are possible in the area, including different schedules on Saturdays and Sundays, as opposed to weekdays will have been examined.
As well as Perth City and rural services, Midland Scottish buses in Crieff and Pitlochry areas will also be surveyed. Passengers will be asked to complete questionnaires asking for details of their journey while surveyors will also record bus times and loadings.
Over the last ten years, there has been a 30% drop in the number of people using buses. In that same period fares have gone up 50% more than the 'cost of living.'
The organisers of the project hope that the data and the changes that result will help to bring people back to buses.