8. Use of Traveline Scotland and Transport Direct - adults (16+)(Tables 15 and 16)
8.1 The randomly selected adult is asked some questions about Traveline Scotland and Transport Direct; whether they had heard of these services, whether they had used them, what they had used them for and so on. Traveline Scotland ( TLS) Ltd is a telephone, internet, and SMS travel enquiry service providing public transport timetable and journey planning information to travellers in Scotland. It was set up at the end of 2000 and aims to encourage travellers to make greater use of public transport by providing customised information and comparisons about travel by all modes of public transport. Transport Direct is an internet only travel enquiry service giving all the ways of making a journey in the UK. This service went live in July 2004.
8.2 Traveline Scotland
8.2.1 Table 15 shows the results for 2005. 17% of adults had heard of Traveline Scotland; 17% of men and 16% of women. Younger people were more likely to have heard of the service; around a fifth of 16-49 year olds had heard of it, compared to 15% of those aged 50-69, and 6% of those aged 70+. 15% of adults who never drove had heard of Traveline Scotland, compared to 18% of those who drove every day. Overall, 5% of adults had ever used Traveline Scotland; 4% of men and 5% of women. Usage also varies with age; 8% of 16-29 year olds had used the service, compared with 6% of 30-49 year olds, 4% of 50-69 year olds, and only 1% of those aged 70+. There was not much variation with frequency of driving.
8.2.2 Those who had heard of Traveline Scotland were asked how they had come to hear about the service. The most common responses were television report or advert (19% of those who had heard of it), word of mouth (19%), advert at a station, bus stop airport, etc (18%) and newspaper report or advert (11%). In addition, 23% said they had heard of Traveline Scotland by some "other" method. Those who had heard of the service were asked which of the methods given they would use to access the service, if they were available. 19% said they would use "internet using a mobile phone", 18% electronic kiosks at bus/train stations, and 17% said they would use digital TV. Also, 26% said "none of these, but would use in other ways", and 11% said "none, because I would not use the service at all".
8.2.3 Those who had used Traveline Scotland, were asked how many times they had used the service in the past two weeks. 70% of users had not used it in the past fortnight, 19% had used it once, 6% had used it twice, and 4% had used it three or more times. The methods adults prefer to use of contacting Traveline Scotland were also collected; 53% of users said telephone, 48% internet using a PC or laptop, and 2% said they had no preferred method. The respondent is then asked whether they have made any public transport journeys which they might otherwise have made by car as a result of information from Traveline Scotland; 12% of those who had used the service said that they had. When asked how many times this had happened in the past two weeks, 85% (of the 12%) said none, 13% said once, and 2% said twice or more.
8.3 Transport Direct
8.3.1 Table 16 shows the results for July 2004 (when the service was launched) to December 2005. 7% of adults had heard of Transport Direct; 9% of men and 6% of women. Those aged 30-69 were most likely to have heard of it - 8-9% compared to 5% of 16-29 year olds and 6% of those aged 70+. 6% of adults who never drove had heard of Transport Direct, compared to 9% of those who drove every day.
8.3.2 The service was then described to all respondents as "a single travel enquiry service giving information about all the ways of making a journey in the UK" (without saying that it is only available on the internet), and they were asked which would be the best ways for them to access the service. The most popular methods were telephone (40%), internet using a PC or laptop (39%) and digital TV (5%). 29% said they could foresee no circumstance in which they would want to use the service. The methods given varied with sex; men were more likely than women to say "internet using a PC or laptop" (42% vs. 36%) and less likely to say "telephone" (42% vs. 37%). The percentage who said they would access the service through the internet fell with age; 53-54% of those aged 16-49 said "internet using a PC or laptop", compared to 30% of those aged 50-69, and 5% of those aged 70+. Those who were 70+ were much more likely to say they could see no circumstance when they would want to use it (56% compared to 20-31% for the other age groups). Those who drive every day were more likely to say they would access the service through the internet using a PC or laptop than those who never drove (54% vs. 21%) and much less likely to say that they would never use such a service (19% vs. 40%).
8.3.3 Overall, 1.2% of adults had ever used Transport Direct; 1.4% of men and 1.0% of women. Usage is highest in the 30-49 age group (1.6%) and lowest in the 70+ age group (0.4%). There was no real variation with frequency of driving.
8.3.4 Adults who had heard of Transport Direct were asked to describe the service; the most common were that it was a source of information about bus routes, timetables and fares (26%), source of information about train routes, timetables and fares (16%) and source of information about bus/train/plane journeys e.g. cancellations (10%). 49% of those had heard of the service said they did not know how to describe it. Those who had heard of the service were asked how they had come to hear about it. The most common responses were word of mouth (23%), television report or advert (20%), and newspaper report or advert (16%). In addition, 24% said they had heard of Transport Direct by some "other" method.
8.3.5 Those who had used Transport Direct, were asked how many times they had used the service in the past month. 44% had not used it in the past month, 39% had used it once, 7% had used it twice, 7% had used it 3-5 times, and 3% had used it more than 5 times. 85% of those who had used the service found it generally "very useful" or "fairly useful", and 85% found it "very useful" or "fairly useful" the last time they used it. 7% said that they had found Transport Direct "not at all useful", both "generally" and "last time".
8.3.6 Users of Transport Direct were asked about what they used the service for. The most popular purpose was "to find out about routes" (58% of users - 44% said this was the purpose they used the service for most), "to check arrival/departure times" (45% - 31% most used for), and "to find out about prices" (19% - 6% most used for). The most popular mode was train (54% - 48% most used for), followed by local bus (27% - 21% most), long-distance bus (13% - 8% most), and car or private van (10% - 8% most).
Chart H: Adults (16+) - who have used a local bus service or a train service in the month prior to interview by sex, age, type of area and frequency of driving
