Travelling in UK Cities Today A Xerox Report April 2015
Contents Introduction 3 Methodology 4 Key Findings 5 Executive Summary of Findings 7 Xerox Commentary and Conclusions on the Findings 12 Sample Profile 13 2
Introduction Xerox is the world s largest provider of intelligent urban mobility solutions. Services include solutions for public transport, road tolling and parking and cover everything from data management to customer service. These solutions are designed to improve customer experience and improve the efficiency of transportation systems. Worldwide, Xerox processes over 200 million public transport tickets every day and over $5 billion in tolls per year. Its parking solutions are used throughout the UK and provide the back office solutions to manage ticketing and enforcement processes. For over forty years, Xerox has collaborated closely with its clients to develop revolutionary solutions that transform the very nature of transportation. A recent example is the award-winning Xerox Merge system deployed in Los Angeles which manages all aspects of on-street (and some off-street) parking spaces. By using big data analytics to dynamically adjust pricing and to inform travellers of space availability and cost, this solution maximises convenience, makes best use of resources and reduces congestion caused by circling traffic looking for spaces. To better understand how citizens are moving around their cities, Xerox commissioned detailed opinion research of UK adults who drive in their city. This research covers: how cars and public transport are used; the technology that is, and could be, employed to assist travel and parking; and attitudes towards public transport. The findings shed fascinating light on urban utilisation and the use of Internet and mobile applications; and, by analysing the data from twelve UK cities, it identifies those that are best providing the accurate information and open data that are becoming the pre-requisites for modern city mobility. David Jones, General Manager, Xerox Urban Mobility April 2015 3
Methodology All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,006 UK adults who drive in their city. These cities were: Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Plymouth, Sheffield, Sunderland and Wakefield. Fieldwork was undertaken between 7th - 20th January 2015. The survey was carried out online. Any percentages calculated on bases fewer than 50 respondents have not been reported as they do not represent a wide enough cross-section of the target population to be considered statistically reliable. 4
Key Findings Cars versus Public Transport More than a quarter of those surveyed who drive in their nearest city (28%) say that they use a car every day in their nearest city, compared to about a fifth (19%) who say they use public transport daily. Cars are, generally, used for shorter journeys and public transport for longer ones: of those surveyed who drive in their nearest city, more than a quarter (28%) drive fewer than five miles each week in their nearest city, with 37% saying they drive between five and 20 miles and 26% driving more than 20 miles; more than a third (36%) use public transport to travel more than 20 miles each week while only 9% use this mode to travel less than five miles. The average weekly spend of commuters suggests that public transport is the costlier option at 14.95 per week, compared to 13.11 spent by those who used a car in their nearest city at least once a week. A majority (53%) said that cars were the most reliable form of transport, with 11% and 10% deeming buses and bicycles, respectively, as the most reliable. Trams were thought to be the most reliable by the least amount of people (4%). In terms of safety, more than a third (36%) said cars were the safest travel mode, followed by train (21%) and buses (16%). Bikes were held to be the safest form of travel by the least number of people (1%). Almost half (48%) said that cars were the most timingsaving form of travel, followed by trains (14%) and the tube (11%). Trams were thought to be the most time-saving by the least number of people (4%). Internet and Mobile Applications Smart Cities/Regions The use of Internet and mobile application services for transportation varies widely across the UK. Take, for example, Brighton and Hove, where 65% of those surveyed use mobile services to buy tickets, compared to just 24% in Newcastle. Ranked by usage of Internet and mobile applications services, Edinburgh comes top in the Smart Commuter Index, with London, Brighton and Hove, Glasgow and Manchester completing the top five. The bottom three cities are Sheffield, Bradford and Newcastle. Scottish city residents (Glasgow, Edinburgh) are among the most mobile-savvy commuters in the survey (4th and 1st respectively). 86% of residents in these two Scottish cities are using mobile apps to help them locate, track and pay for transport. The North West also displays a high smart commuter score with 81% smart app usage in the region; in contrast the North East has the lowest app usage at just 49%. Travelling in Cities in the Future Of the various options given to improve transportation, the most popular were digital bus timetables (43%), cycle lanes (30%), mobile apps to update arrival times of next bus/train (28%), parking apps to locate available spaces (27%), park and ride schemes (25%) and touch pads for boarding public transport (25%). The most popular services for mobile enablement (services users are able to control and pay for through their mobile devices) were a single mechanism for paying for all city transport services (18%) and parking (14%) although more than a third (35%) selected none of the services suggested. The most used Internet and mobile applications are those for viewing maps and directions which 64% said they used, followed by apps to view departure times at 57%. The leastused apps are those to locate parking spaces (7%) and apps for cycle hire (4%). There are significant numbers of people who are not using these services currently but would be interested in doing so in the future; but equally, significant numbers who do not currently use these services and are not interested in doing so in the future. Locating (45%) and paying for parking spaces (36%) were the top two applications that respondents said they would be interested in using in the future. 1 Net usage of mobile applications for buying tickets, viewing departure times, viewing live traffic, comparing transportation services, topping up travel cards, viewing maps and directions, locating and paying for parking, cycle hire and taxi hire 5
Parking in Cities The most popular location for parking was on-street with 17% using this every day and 12% a few days per week compared with off-street parking (4% and 15% respectively) and residential street parking (12% and 6% respectively). A majority (54%) of drivers surveyed who ever use onstreet parking when driving in their nearest city were of the opinion that high street parking provision was poor or very poor. More than a quarter (27%) of drivers surveyed who ever use residential parking when driving in their nearest city thought residential street parking provision was poor or very poor whereas 14% of drivers surveyed who ever use off-street parking when driving in their nearest city felt that way about off-street parking with 36% saying it was good or very good. Almost three fifths (58%) of people most often used meters to pay for parking, some way ahead of the second most popular option permits (8%). Only 6% used phone or text services to pay for parking. 18% of people said they never park in their nearest cities. 19% of people didn t know how long it took to find an onstreet parking space in their nearest cities: 41% said it took 10 minutes or longer to do so with 11% saying it took 20 minutes or longer. Public Transport Of those who have ever used public transport as an alternative to driving in their nearest city, buses were overwhelmingly (87%) the most used form of public transport; this was followed by overground trains (51%), underground trains (28%) and trams (22%). Reading a printed newspaper or magazine (40%) was the most popular activity carried out whilst using public transport. 28% read the news online whilst on public transport. The next most popular activities were reading a book (37%) and listening to music or other audio content (32%) followed by doing email (31%) and online social networking (28%). Just over a quarter (26%) have face-to-face conversations: 15% of people have phone conversations while 7% sleep. Barriers to using public transport were cited as it taking too long (36%) and being too crowded (29%). Compared to car travel, 29% said public transport was less comfortable and 26% felt it was more expensive. Overall, 11% felt public transport was too complicated, but 34% of drivers said that nothing would prevent them from using public transport in their city. More respondents were very comfortable leaving their cars in off-street parking (24%) than on the street (15%). 44% of drivers said they would sometimes or always make a longer journey to use a supermarket or shopping mall purely because it offered better parking facilities, but the majority (52%) said that they never do this. 6
Executive Summary of Findings Travelling in Cities Today Cars versus Public Transport More than a quarter (28%) say that they use a car every day in their nearest city, compared to nearly a fifth (19%) who say they use public transport daily. About a third (35%) of those aged 55 and older said that they use their cars a few days a week, more than any other age group: about a third (32%) of 25-34 year olds said that they use public transport every day again, more than any other age group. In terms of social class, about a third (32%) of those classed as C2DE said that they used their cars every day, whereas only a quarter (26%) of those classed as ABC1 did so. Nearly a quarter (23%) of those in social classes ABC1 used public transport every day compared to just 12% of those in social classes C2DE. Cars are, generally, used for shorter journeys and public transport for longer ones. Of those surveyed who drive in their nearest city, more than a fifth (28%) drive fewer than five miles each week, with 37% saying that they drive between five and 20 miles and 26% driving more than 20 miles. More than a third (36%) use public transport to travel more than 20 miles each week, while only 9% use this mode to travel fewer than 5 miles. Similar amounts of money are spent on driving and using public transport; 29% spend less than 5 driving each week in their nearest city, whilst 30% spend the same amount on public transport. 10% spend 5 per week driving and 9% spend 5 on public transport each week. Only 2% spend 50 per week on either mode of transport. However the average weekly spend of commuters suggests that public transport is the costlier option at 14.95 per week, compared to 13.11 spent by those who used a car in their nearest city at least once a week. Internet and Mobile Applications The most used Internet and mobile applications (see Table 1) are those used for viewing maps and directions (64%), followed by apps to view departure times at 57%. The least used apps are those to locate parking spaces (7%) and apps for cycle hire (4%). There are significant numbers of people who are not using these services currently but would be interested in doing so in the future, but equally, significant numbers who do not currently use these services and are not interested in doing so in the future. Table 1 shows the results for the entire sample for each type of Internet or mobile application. For example, whist only 7% of people currently use Internet and mobile services to locate parking spaces, 45% would be interested in doing so, but 37% would not be interested. Only 13% said they paid for parking via mobile with 36% saying that they would be interested in doing this, but 41% would not want to. Locating and paying for parking spaces were the top two applications that respondents said that they would be interested in using in the future. A majority (53%) said that cars were the most reliable form of transport, with 11% and 10% deeming buses and bicycles, respectively, as the most reliable. Trams were thought to be the most reliable by the least amount of people (4%). In terms of safety, more than a third (36%) said that cars were the safest travel mode, followed by the train (21%) and buses (16%). Bikes were found to be the safest form of travel by the least number of people (1%). Almost half (48%) said that cars were the most timing-saving form of travel, followed by trains (14%) and the tube (11%). Trams were thought to be the most time-saving by the least amount of people (4%). 7
Table 1 Internet and Mobile Application Usage Internet / Mobile Application Yes, I do so (%) No, but I would be interested to do so in the future (%) No, and I wouldn t be interested in doing so in the future (%) Don t know/can t recall (%) Booking transport tickets 40 26 26 8 Viewing live departure times 57 22 16 5 Receiving live traffic 33 34 25 8 information Comparing available 21 30 36 14 transportation services Topping up city travelcard 16 31 42 12 Viewing city maps/finding 64 14 16 6 directions Locating parking spaces 7 45 37 11 Bicycle hire 4 23 63 11 Paying for parking 13 36 41 10 Taxi hire 13 33 44 10 Smart Cities/Regions The use of Internet and mobile application services for transportation varies widely across the respondents in the UK cities surveyed. Take, for example, Brighton and Hove, where 65% use mobile services to buy tickets, compared to just 24% in Newcastle. Ranked by usage of Internet and mobile applications services (see Table 2), Edinburgh comes top in smart app usage, with London, Brighton and Hove, Glasgow and Manchester completing the top five. The bottom three cities are Sheffield, Bradford and Newcastle. Table 3 shows a ranking of Internet and mobile application usage with the cities surveyed grouped by Government region. 8
2 Net usage of mobile applications for buying tickets, viewing departure times, viewing live traffic, comparing transportation services, topping up travel cards, viewing maps and directions, locating and paying for parking, cycle hire and taxi hire 9
Table 3 Ranking of Usage of Internet and Mobile Application Services by Government Region Government Region of the Cities surveyed Total Smart App Usage* (%) 1. London 87% 2. Scotland 86% 3. South East 85% 4. North West 81% 5. East Midlands 77% 6. West Midlands 74% 7. Wales 74% 8. South West 71% 9. Yorkshire/Humber 68% 10. North East 49% Travelling in Cities in the Future Of the various options given to improve transportation in their nearest city, the most popular with respondents were digital bus timetables (43%), cycle lanes (30%), mobile apps to update arrival times of next bus/train (28%), parking apps to locate available spaces (27%), park and ride schemes (25%) and touch pads for boarding public transport (25%). With the exception of park and ride schemes, all of these options were significantly more popular with ABC1 drivers than C2DEs (see Table 4). 10
Table 4 Ranking of Attitudes of Social Grades Interested in Initiatives/Features they Felt would Improve Transportation in their Nearest City. Initiatives/ features felt would improve transportation in their nearest city ABC1 C2DE Digital bus timelines (e.g. updates at the bus stop) 45% 38% Cycle lanes 32% 24% Mobile apps to update arrival of next bus/ trains (e.g. Citymapper) 30% 23% Parking apps providing location of available spaces 29% 23% Touch pads for boarding/ onboarding public transport 27% 21% (e.g. London Oyster pads) The most popular services for mobile enablement (services users are able to control and pay for through their mobile devices) were a single mechanism for paying for all city transport services (18%) and parking (14%) although more than a third (35%) said none of the services suggested. Parking in Cities The most popular everyday location for parking was on-street with 17% using this every day and 12% a few days per week compared with off-street parking (4% and 15% respectively) and residential street parking (12% and 6% respectively). A majority (54%) of drivers surveyed who ever use on-street parking when driving in their nearest city were of the opinion that high street parking provision was poor or very poor; 60% of drivers surveyed who were 55 or older felt this way. More than a quarter (27%) of drivers surveyed who ever use residential parking when driving in their nearest city thought residential street parking provision was poor or very poor whilst 14% of drivers surveyed who ever use off-street parking when driving in their nearest city were of the opinion that this was poor or very poor with 36% saying it was good or very good. Almost three fifths (58%) of people most often used meters to pay for parking in their nearest city, some way ahead of the second most popular option permits (8%). Only 6% used phone or text services to pay for parking. 18% of people said they never park in their nearest cities. 19% of people didn t know how long it took to find an onstreet parking space: 41% said it took 10 minutes or longer to do so with 11% saying it took 20 minutes or longer. The highest average parking time is in Cardiff at 10.96 minutes, while the shortest is Sheffield at 7.9 minutes. More respondents were very comfortable leaving their cars in off-street parking (24%) than on the street, although only 19% of 55 s and over were very comfortable with leaving their cars in off-street facilities. Public Transport Overwhelmingly, buses were the form of public transport to have been used by most (87%) of respondents who ever use public transport in their nearest city as an alternative to driving, followed by overground trains (51%), underground trains (28%) and trams (22%) as an alternative to driving in their nearest city. ABC1 drivers (55%) were more likely to have used overground trains than C2DE drivers (55% v. 42%) and the underground/tube (32% v. 20%). Reading a printed newspaper or magazine (40%) was the most popular activity carried out whilst using public transport, and was more popular with men than women (45% compared to 35%) and with older people than younger people (46% of the over 55 s compared with 24% of those aged 18-24). 28% of people read the news online; again this was more popular with men (30%) than women (26%). The next most popular activities were reading a book (37%) with women (44%) more likely to do this than men (31%), listening to music or other audio content (32%) followed by doing email (31%) and online social networking (28%). Social networking was significantly more popular with women (31%) than men (25%). Just over a quarter (26%) have face-to-face conversations, 15% of people have phone conversations while 7% sleep. Barriers to using public transport were cited as taking too long (36%) and being too crowded (29%), less comfortable than a car (also 29%) and more expensive (26%) than using a car. Overall, 11% felt public transport was too complicated, but 34% of drivers said that nothing would prevent them from using public transport in their city with the 42% of over 55 s feeling this way and ABC1 drivers (36%) were more likely to agree with this statement than C2DE drivers (29%). 44% of drivers said they would sometimes or always make a longer journey to use a supermarket or shopping mall purely because it offered better parking facilities, but the majority (52%) said that they never do. 11
Xerox Commentary and Conclusions on the Findings Clearly the private car is still the transport mode of choice for many city drivers. Cars are perceived as more reliable, safer and quicker. Rather surprisingly, trams which are often perceived as up-to-date, more socially acceptable (than buses) and a modern form of public transport are considered to be the least reliable. The rise of the connected traveller, comfortable using their smart phones and apps to determine their travel and mobility use, creates challenges and opportunities for local authorities and transport operators. Accurate information and open data are becoming prerequisites for intelligent mobility. The decision about in-house app development or data release to encourage third party apps is one that all the authorities will need to consider. There is a large variation across our cities of app use. This may reflect the transport options available as well as the normal travel patterns of residents. For areas with low app usage the authorities may need to consider a more regional approach to travel coordination and integration in order to achieve the necessary critical mass. In terms of app development, it s clear that local authorities will need to decide whether to do this inhouse or to release data in order to facilitate the development of third party apps. A key theme that emerges from the data is the importance of parking availability, information and convenience. Parking is a key aspect of mode choice, shopping destination and leisure activities. Out- of-town shopping malls with plenty of free parking will inevitably attract more shoppers than city centres unless easy parking is available. Parking availability also greatly influences mode choice during the working week. Transport hubs without adequate parking will not attract those who might switch to public transport. City parking, particularly on-street is considered poor by many. It is also time consuming, with cars circling looking for spaces which also increases congestion, pollution and frustration. Barriers to using public transport including it taking too long, being too crowded and too complicated to use can be addressed through data analytics which could: provide insight into travel patterns and behaviour; identify new route needs and ways of simplifying journeys; and also provide improved information. Overall, the research clearly shows that integrating private and public transport options is a critical factor in increasing the utilisation of urban spaces. 12
Sample Profile Total Number % 2006 100 Sex Male 1060 53 Female 946 47 Age 18-24 94 5 25-34 424 21 35-44 424 21 45-54 401 20 55+ 663 33 Social Class ABC1 1343 67 C2DE 663 33 Cities Surveyed in Government Region North East 79 4 North West 120 6 Yorkshire and Humberside 339 17 East Midlands 64 3 West Midlands 139 7 South West 136 7 London 628 31 South East 62 3 England 1567 78 Wales 78 4 Scotland 347 17 Northern Ireland 14 1 Working Status Working Full Time 1180 59 Working Part Time 203 10 All Workers 1383 Full Time Student 78 4 Retired 368 18 Unemployed 54 3 Not Working/Other 123 6 Marital Status Married/Civil Partnership 821 41 Living as Married 347 17 Separated/Divorced 194 10 Widowed 36 2 Never Married 608 30 Children in Household 0 1607 80 1 182 9 2 154 8 3+ 40 2 All with Children in Household 376 Refused to answer 23 1 13
Sample Profile - continued Total Number % 2006 100 Social Media (Monthly or More) Facebook 1238 LinkedIN 433 Google+ 128 Twitter 600 City Belfast 14 1 Birmingham 109 5 Bradford 60 3 Brighton and Hove 62 3 Bristol 91 5 Cardiff 78 4 Coventry 30 2 Edinburgh 194 10 Glasgow 153 8 Leeds 145 7 Leicester 31 2 Liverpool 48 2 London 628 31 Manchester 72 4 Newcastle 54 3 Nottingham 33 2 Plymouth 45 2 Sheffield 111 6 Sunderland 25 1 Wakefield 23 1 14
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