Accessibility and Public Transport Research at UCL
Accessible Public Transport in Rural Areas (APTRA)
Funding
Description
The APTRA project was started in 1998 and completed in 2000. The work started
in this project is being developed through the ELIXIR project. APTRA considered
the effects of a high frequency fully accessible public transport service
in rural areas by operating an experimental bus service and examining the
opportunities and results. The research included the development of a specification
for a low floor fully accessible minibus for public bus services and exploits
findings from EXCALIBUR to help design accessible
bus stops for rural locations. It also considers ways in which the viability
of such a service could be improved by including other inter-village transport
services.
The public service has been running in the Upper Eden Valley in Cumbria
since April 1999. This allows us to test the ways in which such a service
could provide opportunities for older people and others who are unable
to get about because of a lack of appropriate public transport. The project
involved extensive local public participation on all aspects of the service.
A user survey conducted in 2000 includes the following outcomes:
-
A high take-up relative to settlement size
-
Changes in shopping patterns
-
A significant use of the bus by young people
-
Use by disabled people
-
Elderly people regaining travelling independence
-
Business use
-
Changes in travel patterns
-
Some regular journeys to work and education
Cumbria County Council and Eden District Council provide officer support
for the project.
Reports
TYLER, N.A. (2000) Community Transport and
Community Development in Rural Areas. Proc. Developing Policies for
the Integration of Rural and Community Transport: CTA Scottish Rural Conference,
Edinburgh, UK, June.
TYLER, N.A. (1999) Accessible bus services
in a rural environment, Proc. ECMT Seminar "Strengthening the Transport
Chain", Gothenberg, Sweden, September. (NB. this is a slightly updated
version of the paper below)
TYLER, N.A. (1999) Accessible Public Transport
in Rural Areas, Proc. Rural Transport for All Seminar, Lancaster University,
July.
TYLER, N.A. and I.E.W. BROWN (1999) Accessible Public Transport
in Rural Areas: Choice of Study Area for the Project. Working paper, University
of London Centre for Transport Studies, London.
BROWN, I.E.W. (1999) Fully Accessible Rural Bus Shelters and Platforms.
Working Paper, University of London Centre for Transport Studies, London.
Contact
Nick Tyler (supervisor)
Ian Brown (research fellow)
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Last updated April 2001
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