The use of public transport in Melbourne

Knowledge of and an understanding of the "market" is the first step towards serving the needs of the existing market and anticipating the future market. Furthermore trends in patronage need to be monitored if successful strategies are to be developed to promote the use of public transport in the longer term. Public transport in Melbourne is at a critical point due to structural changes within the metropolitan area (ie, increased vehicle ownership, continued suburbanisation and decentralisation of employment) and other demographic changes, which impact on the use of public transport. Significant changes have been made to the public transport system during the eighties (eg, opening of the city loop, fleet modernisation and expansion of services). Superimposed on these changes have been a radical change to the ticketing system so that previous monitoring of ticket sales is no longer an acceptable tool for providing up to date passenger information. On board questionnaire surveying has been accepted as a tool for providing the necessary market orientated statistics. This paper provides an overview of the on board survey conducted in Melbourne in October 1987. Conclusions are made regarding the trends in the composition of the daily public transport composition and the implications for future patronage (A).