The purpose of this study is to elucidate how public transport, which is not planned from elderly people's perspectives, based on trunk bus routes, will affect elderly people's travelling with and attitudes to public transport. This is studied through two perspectives: changes in travel behaviour and changes in attitudes and opinions when trunk bus routes are introduced. Trunk bus routes are primarily focused on short travel time and short headways and not what is known to be appreciated among elderly people; e.g. short distances to bus stops and high level of service. The study consists of three different quantitative surveys; a travel habit panel, an onboard survey and a passenger count. Using three survey methods gives the possibility to analyse the effects from different points of view. The result show that the effects when introducing trunk bus routes seem small among the elderly in general. The travel diary shows that the proportion of trips that are made by bus has increased, but other results show no indication of a change in the proportion that travel by bus. When looking at attitudes and opinions, elderly people seem positive to public transport, both the old system and the new system, but even so there are groups among the elderly who do not appreciate everything about the new system. One finding is that according to the travel habit panel the elderly had a more positive attitude to both the old and the new public transport, but according to the onboard survey the elderly were less satisfied with the new public transport than were the younger people. More transfers is one negative part of a public transport system that includes trunk bus routes and a transfer during the trip affects both the elderly person's overall opinion about public transport and how much the person travels by bus. (Author/publisher)
Abstract