Loughborough University
Browse
Enoch and Potter uk bus marketing municipal engineer.pdf (92.73 kB)

Marketing and the British bus industry

Download (92.73 kB)
journal contribution
posted on 2008-05-21, 08:42 authored by Marcus EnochMarcus Enoch, Stephen Potter
The development of public transport services is a key element of all local sustainable transport strategies. Achieving modal switch from car users requires marketing systems be changed to identify and target suitable non-users of public transport, rather than just enlarging custom by existing users. However, in the public transport field, marketing is still essentially designed to only address the existing customer base. This is particularly acute among bus operators, who rarely even market effectively to their existing customer base, and have a poor image among car users. This paper draws on the practical experience of some of the relatively few local bus operators and local authorities who have identified and won new markets, including modal shift from car. It looks at the sort of services they have developed, the marketing strategies adopted, and at how the stakeholders worked together. In addition, it provides hard evidence as to the benefits of marketing bus services properly, suggesting that patronage gains of around 5-7% should be possible, even without major investment or legislative change. In conclusion, seven key features of good practice are identified that need to be part of developing bus services to serve sustainable transport policies. These are CUSTOMISATION, CO-OPERATION, CLEAR VISION, CLARITY (TO THE USER), CORE MARKET, CULTURE, and CONTINUITY.

History

School

  • Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering

Citation

ENOCH M.P. and POTTER, S., 2002. Marketing and the British bus industry. Proceedings of ICE, Municipal Engineer, 151 (1), March, pp. 49-56

Publisher

© Thomas Telford

Publication date

2002

Notes

This journal article was published in the journal, Proceedings of ICE, Municipal Engineer [© Thomas Telford]. The definitive version is available from: http://www.thomastelford.com/journals/

ISSN

0965-0903;1751-7699

Language

  • en

Usage metrics

    Loughborough Publications

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC