TAS and Rapid Transit
If Government at both local and national level is to attain its oft-stated objectives of a switch from private car travel to walking, cycling and public transport use, it is clear that new and much improved modes of transport are going to be required.
The improvements needed can vary enormously from place to place, and we have produced reports for different towns, cities and regions which have variously recommended:
- Enhanced bus priority measures linked to bus service improvements
- Bus-based park and ride systems
- Guided busway systems
- New light rail lines
- Conversion of conventional rail services to light rail
The vital element which underpins all these recommendations is a strong belief that these options must be assessed against common objectives and in a market context.
The Market Vision
Travel decisions are not made by computer models or abstruse survey techniques (useful though these can be), but by millions of ordinary men and women every day of their lives. And we know, from market research carried out all over the country, and by learning from successful systems all over the world, what people want from a transport system — this is our market vision, and can be summed up as:
- Fast journey time
- Frequent services
- Reliable services and journey time
- High quality environment, both inside the vehicle and at stops
- Easy access for all users
- Good marketing and information provision (including real-time where possible)
- Competitive pricing
The TAS Assessment Tools
The common elements which TAS brings to public transport network enhancement projects include:
- demographic analysis to understand the existing and potential public transport market (the TAS 'Profiler' system, looking at data at disaggregated levels)
- rigorous analysis of the existing public transport patronage (using such sources as electronic ticket machine data, survey techniques and travel diaries)
- use of the TAS Rapid Transit Forecasting Model to assess the options by:
- outline capital cost
- outline annual operating cost
- break-even demand requirements to meet PFI and NATA criteria
- risk assessment
Moving schemes forward
These techniques have been developed over time, and are sufficiently flexible to take account of specific local circumstances and requirements. Elements of the package have been used for a variety of clients including:
- Kent County Council
- Go-Ahead Group plc
- Oxfordshire County Council and partners (the Oxford GTE project)
- Suffolk County Council and Ipswich Borough Council (the Ipswich Transport Strategy)
- Travel West Midlands
- Yorkshire Traction
- North West Partnership
- Arrow Consortium
- Tramtrack Croydon
- Go-Ahead Group and VIA-GTI
- FirstGroup plc
- East Lancashire Partnership
- Blackpool Borough Council
- Transport for London
