All experience shows that to achieve a fully adapted public transport system, the whole travel chain has to be considered. In a research project in Boras, Sweden, running between 1990-1994, measures were undertaken in the whole travel chain in order to provide a more accessible transport system. An evaluation was made of the benefits and attitudes of elderly people. In the Damastadian area of the city a Service Route was introduced as a special improvement for the elderly and disabled. In the Tuller area minor improvements in the traditional bus services were carried out. Improvements were made in both areas to the physical environment (e.g. resting places provided, bus stops improved). The summarised result of the project is that the number of passengers in the public transport system increases in both areas but the increase is bigger where the Service Route traffic were introduced; more pedestrians are out in both neighbourhoods; measures in both the public transport system and the physical environment are appreciated by the elderly; there is a more positive attitude to the changes in the public transport system than in the physical environment; the residents in the area where Service Routes were introduced value however the measures in the physical environment higher than do the residents where changes on the buses in the mainstream service were made. Furthermore the effect and the attitudes are more positive among the oldest (75+) and the group of people reporting more severe impairments. The conclusion of the project is that it is possible to attract new passengers and to increase the use of the public transport system by offering a better quality and a higher adaptation level in the system. This, in turn, has a positive effect on the use of STS (Special Transportation Service). The effect of measures in the physical environment is also positive, but such measures are likely to be more appreciated when the public transport system also offers a higher adaptation level (i.e. Service Routes).
Abstract