The lack of an integrated travel information system (rail/bus/coach) can discourage the planning of journeys which would make the best use of the whole public transport network. At present, travel enquiry clerks are usually only able to provide information on the services operated by their own organizations. In order to assess benefits, comparisons were made between a comprehensive method of information extraction and four other methods which were felt to represent the range of current methods of obtaining information on quickest journeys. The benefits estimated included reductions in pre-journey waiting time, walking and waiting time at inter-changes, trip time and the average number of interchanges per trip. The time savings contributed to a reduction of 8-22 per cent in overall trip time, which was estimated to produce £18m to £39m in extra revenue. Also, during 1975 leisure rates for the value of time, community benefits of £24m to #£63m per annum were estimated to accrue from the reductions in overall trip time. These benefits, for non-commuter trips, have been estimated by reference to published timetables and not by the re-scheduling of any services. (Author/publisher)
Abstract