A general study of the effects of the introduction of a differential peak/off-peak fares scheme in February 1976 by Cumberland motor services has been reported elsewhere. Coincident with that study a detailed on-bus survey was performed on three specific services to investigate adult, child, and pensioner reactions to the scheme in the short term. Two short-distance town services and one inter-urban service were examined. On the town services the adult resistance to the new scheme was found to be greater at the peak periods than off-peak, whilst child evening trips showed a considerable traffic loss. No evidence was found that users had retimed trips to avoid the peak charging period, although some passengers may have walked up to one fare stage to ride at a lower fare. For the inter-urban service adult travel decreased only in the evenings, but child travel was found to have increased at all times. No explanation was found for the latter. It was noted that the Whitehaven town service ticket issues generally decreased less than those on the Workington town service; this result was consistent with a finding from the general survey. (Author/publisher)
Abstract