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The working group on the citizens’ perception of transport services and offer
has developed a common methodological framework to analyse how citizens perceive mobility in relation to potential for improvement and in relation to what they have experienced or perceive in other European cities/regions.
The working group was established in July 2001 and brings together
representatives from RATB (Bucharest), HKV (Budapest), Cambridgeshire County
Council, YTV (Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council) and Nottingham City Council,
co-ordinated by the research institute INRA-Europe. STIF (Ile-de-France) and the
Brussels-Capital Region were also associated in the process.
The objective was to develop and implement a common methodological framework
to assess the qualitative aspects of local transport systems, in particular
citizens' expectations, experience and perceptions of mobility networks and
services in their city or region (for all transport modes) in relation to
potential for improvement (image, satisfaction, modal choice) and in relation to
what they have experienced or perceived in other European cities/regions.
The working group started by defining a unified, multi-modal and
comprehensive methodology approach in terms of transport policy measures and
opinion survey techniques. The model survey questionnaire was prepared in
English, translated into the languages of the areas undertaking the full survey
and tested.
Data collection was undertaken through a co-ordinated campaign of interviews
conducted in Nov.-Dec. 2001. Representative random population samples were
formed by quota sampling according to gender and age (15-65).
In each authority, 500 to 1.000 interviews were carried out by telephone
interviews or through personal interviews, asking for appreciation of the
following points: - Image of transport (overall/according to modes) - Usage
(according to modes) - Satisfaction (according to modes) - Change in travel
behaviour (effective/expected) - Expensiveness/value for money (according to
modes) - Quality of public transport (according to criteria) - Ease of
travelling without a car - Comparison of transport offerings with another
European city
The first outcome has been to verify the validity of the common multi-modal
approach used and to define a series of practical guidelines for implementation
and data analysis.
The preliminary results of this analysis were presented at the annual
conference and the final version will be available as download on this
website soon. It is expected that other urban and regional authorities
could be involved in a wider scale European survey, using the model and methods
developed, which would allow a more extensive comparative evaluation of local
transport systems and strategies from the point of view of citizens.
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