This paper describes the results of a diary questionnaire survey conducted on behalf of The London Committee on Accessible Transport among holders of concessionary travel permits in London during the summer of 1996. The survey was designed to reveal the pattern of public transport usage by permit holders according to key socio-economic and geographical characteristics and, in particular, to determine the frequency distributions of bus, rail and tube trips. The sampling frame for the main questionnaire survey was a database of forms completed by people who had applied for, or renewed, their permit in Spring 1996. These forms contained basic contact details, together with the permit holders' own estimate of their usage of bus, tube, rail and car in a typical week. The main questionnaire sought details of public transport trips made over a seven day period together with socio-economic and attitudinal data and a question about the permit holder's own expectation of their use of public transport if they did not have a travel concession. Completion and return of the questionnaire was encouraged by provision of a #500 prize draw. The resulting database contained data from over 2000 permit holders and was reweighted to correct for any differences in response rate by people with different trip frequencies (as stated by them on the original permit renewal form). Extensive analysis has been conducted covering aspects as diverse as factors affecting the uptake of permits, the effect of the 1996 tube strike on trip rates, the distribution of trip rates across different socio-economic groups, the relationship between trip purpose and mode, the relationship between trip duration and frequency and a naive estimation of revenue foregone due to the concessionary permit scheme.
Samenvatting