Informing the design of future transport information services with travel behaviour data

In order to increase the attractiveness of public transport systems, information technology has great potential to add value to their usage. In particular, the availability of digital sources of behavioural transport data opens up new directions for the development of transport information services which are focused on the passengers' engagement in public transport. This will enable novel perceptions of transport services, encompassing aspects of personal transport behaviour - information related to the transport routines of individual travellers, social transport behaviour - information which creates an understanding of the collective transport usage of social groups - and dimensions of quality-of-transport information which include novel measures of travel experiences such as overcrowding. In this paper, we introduce and discuss a design space of how behavioural transport data can shape more user-centric transport information services in order to inform future research activities in this area

Segmenting Publics

This research synthesis was commissioned by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to examine audience segmentation methods and tools in the area of public engagement. It provides resources for assessing the ways in which segmentation tools might be used to enhance the various activities through which models of public engagement in higher education are implemented. Understanding the opinions, values, and motivations of members of the public is a crucial feature of successful engagement. Segmentation methods can offer potential resources to help understand the complex set of interests and attitudes that the public have towards higher education. Key findings: There exist a number of existing segmentations which address many of the areas of activity found in Universities and HEIs. These include segmentations which inform strategic planning of communications; segmentations which inform the design of collaborative engagement activities by museums, galleries, and libraries; and segmentations that are used to identify under-represented users and consumers. Segmentation is, on its own, only a tool, used in different ways in different contexts. The broader strategic rationale shaping the application and design of segmentation methods is a crucial factor in determining the utility of segmentation tools. Four issues emerged of particular importance: 1. Segmentation exercises are costly and technically complex. Undertaking segmentations therefore requires significant commitment of financial and professional resources by HEIs; the appropriate interpretation, analysis, and application of segmentation exercises also require high levels of professional capacity and expertise 2. Undertaking a segmentation exercise has implications for the internal organisational operations of HEIs, not only for how they engage with external publics and stakeholders 3. Segmentation tools are adopted to inform interventions of various sorts, and superficially to differentiate and sometime discriminate between how groups of people are addressed and engaged. 4. For HEIs, the ethical issues and reputational risks which have been identified in this Research Synthesis as endemic to the application of segmentation methods for public purposes are particularly relevant

Personal security in travel by public transport : the role of traveller information and associated technologies

Acknowledgement This research reported in this paper has been funded by a grant award from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council: EP/I037032/1.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Transports and Consumers’ Ecological Behaviour

Transports certainly have positive economic and social effects. However, transports in general, and motor transports in particular play a significant role in environmental pollution, with a negative impact on the quality of life. In this article, we make a diagnosis on the contribution of transports to environmental pollution, especially through CO2 and green house gases emissions, on international and national levels, highlighting trends in transports evolution. Based on an ample research the article presents policies (commandand- control and incentive-based policies, physical, soft or knowledge policies etc.) meant to diminish the negative impact of auto transports on the quality of life. The last part of the article investigates, based on the direct market research, the current and future behaviours of transport services consumers in Bucharest, the way transport services are perceived, as well as the way different modalities of protection against the pollution caused by transport are assessed. Market research has generally revealed a pro-environmental behaviour, most of the subjects investigated agreeing with the measures focused on reducing pollution caused by transports. However, the survey results have shown that factors related to the environment and its protection are not very important when deciding to purchase a car.transport services, environmental pollution, consumer behaviour, survey

Bexley report: a report to MCCH on a suitable transport policy for its Bexley services

This report presents the findings of and recommendations from the study commissioned by MCCH to advise on a comprehensive transport policy for MCCH to use in providing services in both its residential homes and day-care centres in Bexley. It describes the current positions of transport supply for, and of transport demand by the community of people with learning difficulties in the London Borough of Bexley. It also considers the extent to which the transport supply is meeting or not meeting the transport demands and the expressed needs of the people and/or their representatives. The report considers the implications for improvement in transport provision of certain proposed actions by MCCH. Finally, the report presents some recommendations based on a user-centred strategy to help MCCH incorporate their concept of empowering their service users through suitable transport provision. This study has been conducted with the ethos and operational objectives of the MCCH group firmly in mind. MCCH has an objective to enhance quality of life for their service users and is very concerned with ensuring that its service users are enabled to exercise the rights and opportunities of citizenship with particular reference to freedom of choice in time and mode of travel. MCCH holds that real improvement in services to learning disability people must include increased range and choice of people-centred opportunities that address the total needs and aspirations of service users and their carers, underpinned by values and principles of good practice. Thus MCCH desires to put back in the control of users, the lever of decision making as regards services provided to 4 them and intends to do this by actively eliciting user/stakeholders involvement in decision-making. Contrary to the standard social service transport provision style, MCCH desires to create choice for service-users, feeling that people should be able to decide whether, e.g. to go by bus or train and be supported in their decision and not be constrained by the schedule of the provided transport. The specific terms of reference for this study are 1. To examine the current demand for, and provision of, transport within MCCH’s Bexley services. To assess how best these services might be reconfigured and managed, having regard to: · Desire to increase empowerment and choice for service users · Optimizing the integration of the transport management in Bexley within MCCH’s organization, in the light of most efficient use of resources and practice elsewhere in MCCH · Desire to better integrate residential services with day services in Bexley · MCCH’s intention to reconfigure Bexley day services · The move of service users towards ‘supported living’ as opposed to registered care · The objectives and concerns of all parties involved, including Bexley Social Services, Bexley Transport Services, the parents/relatives/carers of the service users and the service users themselves · The way vehicles are currently owned and funded · Efficiency and cost 2. To produce outline proposals, plans and specifications of how a reconfigured transport service would look and operate, including details of resource requirements in enough detail to allow reasonably accurate costing to be derived

Service quality at the London 2012 Games – a Paralympics Athletes Survey

Purpose – This paper reports on aspects of service quality at the London 2012 Paralympic Games,from a rather unusual perspective, the athletes. To date there has been little evidence captured about athlete’s satisfaction at sporting events, and specifically about their perceptions of the service quality provided. Design/methodology/approach – Unique ‘full’ access to the London 2012 Paralympics allowed to the collection of data directly from the athletes. The study reports the questionnaire findings from a sample of 250 respondents. Findings – From this study an operational assessment and performance framework has been generated composed of 10 criteria and 73 items or sub-criteria, which can be used as a benchmarking tool to plan, design and compare future sport mega-event. Moreover, the study evidence based the high quality of the 2012 Paralympics Games, as he athletes rated, on a 5 point Likert scale, 64 items in the ‘very satisfied’ category, a very positive set of feedback for the Games organisers. Research limitations/implications – The methodology applied was appropriate, generating data to facilitate discussion and draw specific conclusions from. A perceived limitation is the single case approach; however, this can be enough to add to the body of knowledge where very little evidence has been captured so far and where the objectives were to explore the Paralympics games service quality and performance. Practical implications – This research provides a tangible evidence base to support future sport event decision-makers, planners and designers in this highly complex ‘arena’. In any system, there are always areas for improvement (AFIs), these are highlighted within the paper for further investigation. Originality/value – This is the first paper to identify and synthesize aspects of sport mega event service quality from the athletes viewpoint and informs how well designed, organised and managed the London 2012 Games were from a primary user perspective. The paper makes a defined contribution by developing evidence based recommendations for this important yet under researched area

Evaluation plan and recommendations - ‘Can’t Wait to be Healthy’: A briefing paper on evaluation for Leeds Childhood Obesity Prevention and Weight Management Strategy.

The rise in childhood obesity is a major public health challenge and a national priority for health action. Obesity is associated with many illnesses and is directly related to increased mortality and lower life expectancy. The Children’s Plan recognises child obesity as one of the most serious challenges for children and links it to a number of poor outcomes, physical, social and psychological (Department for Children, Schools and Families 2007). ‘Can’t wait to be healthy’- Leeds Childhood Obesity Prevention and Weight Management Strategy 2006-2016 is a comprehensive, city-wide strategy setting out actions to tackle the problem of childhood obesity for all children and young people 0-19 years. The strategy reviews the evidence around prevalence, causal factors and effective interventions. There is recognition of the complexity of the issue and the need for action on multiple levels and in different sectors, including health, education, environment and leisure services. The guiding principles are based on partnership working and local leadership, the active participation of parents, carers, children and young people, and the prioritisation of prevention and early intervention. ‘Can’t wait to be healthy’ was initiated by Leeds Primary Care Trust (PCT) and Children Leeds and its implementation is being overseen by a multi agency partnership. An initial action plan was agreed that gives an outline of proposed actions (2007-2010) grouped around strands of work. There are seven core objectives that are summarised in Box 1. A robust evaluation plan and reporting framework to measure progress and outcomes resulting from the strategy is required. This is supported by recent guidance for local areas indicating the importance of local evaluation and monitoring in tracking progress and informing commissioning (Cross Government Obesity Unit 2008a).The Centre for Health Promotion Research, Leeds Metropolitan University, was commissioned to work in collaboration with the Leeds Childhood Obesity Partnership to develop a strategic approach to evaluation. A series of workshops were held in Spring 2008 to enable stakeholders to engage with the planning process and to consider how evidence would be generated. The workshops used a ‘Theory of Change’ approach to develop understanding about how and why specific activities or combinations of activities work (Connell and Kubisch 1988). This resulted in a draft evaluation plan and recommendations for ongoing evaluation which are presented here. This briefing paper includes: • Summary of national guidance on indicators for childhood obesity • Evaluation planning process and approach • Theories of change and evaluation plans for each objective and for the overall strategy • Recommendations for evaluation of ‘Can’t wait to be healthy’ and priorities for data collectio

Towards a multidisciplinary user-centric design framework for context-aware applications

The primary aim of this article is to review and merge theories of context within linguistics, computer science, and psychology, to propose a multidisciplinary model of context that would facilitate application developers in developing richer descriptions or scenarios of how a context-aware device may be used in various dynamic mobile settings. More specifically, the aim is to:1. Investigate different viewpoints of context within linguistics, computer science, and psychology, to develop summary condensed models for each discipline. 2. Investigate the impact of contrasting viewpoints on the usability of context-aware applications. 3. Investigate the extent to which single-discipline models can be merged and the benefits and insightfulness of a merged model for designing mobile computers. 4. Investigate the extent to which a proposed multidisciplinary modelcan be applied to specific applications of context-aware computing