BUS SERVICE LEVELS IN URBAN AREAS: EFFECTS ON BUS USE AND TRAVEL BEHAVIOUR

This report summarises the results of an investigation into the effect of differences in bus services levels on patterns of travel by bus and other modes. It is based on analysis of data from the 1978/9 national travel survey (see IRRD 269275) large scale surveys of bus users in three medium-sized towns and in-depth interviews with small samples of bus users. The main aim of the work was to measure elasticities of bus service levels for sub-groups of the population and for different types of journey. Two aspects of bus service levels were concentrated on: service frequency or headway and walk time to bus stop or route density. The main findings of the report are the detailed relationships between service level and bus use in the population in general and for various sub-groups of people with different socio-economic characteristics, and for people making different types of journey. The report also discusses the implications of these findings for bus operators and local authorities involved in planning bus services. (a)