The UK Government's Ten Year plan for Transport, "Transport 2010 - the ten year plan" (see ITRD E105925), sets the scene for considerable further investment in LRT schemes and a number of authorities have received encouragement to proceed with their plans in the recent funding allocations, following the permission given to Nottingham Express Transit last year. In each of the monitoring studies a detailed breakdown of the composition and source of the LRT patronage has been developed and this has been used to identify the key market segments that need to be addressed in assessing similar schemes. This paper explores the abstraction from other modes and the key factors in achieving transfer from car to LRT. The stated preference exercises carried out in the three studies have focused on separate attributes of the choice process between car and LRT, including park and ride and the critical issue of modal preference and its influence in the forecasting process. The impact studies in Manchester, Birmingham and Croydon have each consisted of before and after household interview surveys, stated preference interviews and user surveys. However, there have also been differences between the studies and the paper highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the approaches, particularly in respect of the benefits of household panel surveys and the use of computer aided techniques rather than paper based surveys, as well as detailing the findings.
Samenvatting