Traffic, its impacts and public attitudes - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 57

The same survey asked what aspects of transport warranted the highest priority
for addressing over the next few years and how these are currently rated. (These
aspects included factors such as cost and reliability as well as some of the safety and
environmental considerations noted in this chapter, but are included here as they
provide important insights for policy makers on relative priorities.) The question was
asked separately of issues relating to roads, buses and trains.
Unsurprisingly (since many more people are frequent car users) the most important
issues identified related to cars and roads. The top six roads-related issues were viewed
as priorities by between 30% and 47% of the population, outstripping the highest single
issue relating to buses and trains (punctuality and reliability, viewed as a priority by
around 25% of the population). This places in context the often-quoted observation
(confirmed in the BSA survey) that when asked in isolation around two-thirds of the
population consider it 'very important' that public transport should be improved.
People's rating of the current condition of each issue was registered on a four-point
scale (very good to very poor) so that a net overall rating (negative minus positive
percentages) could be derived. In general, ratings of current conditions were reflected
in the priority attached to an issue for public action, but not entirely. Noticeably the
issue which received the worst net rating - global warming through vehicle emissions
(-64%) - came only fifth out of the seven issues offered as priorities for action related
to roads.
Details of the ratings for roads-related issues, listed in priority order, are illustrated
in Figure 3.12. The top two priority issues are the cost of car use and congestion in
towns - nicely encapsulating the conundrum facing policy-makers when contemplating
parking charges or road pricing as means of tackling urban traffic congestion!
The net opinion ratings for issues relating to bus and train services are shown in
Table 3.3, listed according to the proportion of users who viewed them as a priority for
public action.
Except for 'ease of crossing roads' the net opinion ratings of all the roads-related
features is extremely negative. Rather surprisingly by comparison most features relating
to buses and trains receive a net positive rating - the conspicuous exceptions being
rail fares and overcrowding. However, embedded in this is one of the methodological
difficulties referred to earlier. Opinion about crossing roads is derived from all people

1 Cost of using a car (-54%)

2 Congestion in towns (-62%)

3 Motorway/main road congestion (-41%)

4 Cost of owning a car (-34%)

5 Vehicle pollution/global warming (-64%)

6 Vehicle pollution/health (-38%)

7 Ease of crossing roads (+15%)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Very poor Fairly poor Fairly good Very good

Figure 3.12 Opinion ratings of road-related issues listed by priority for action (source: MORI 2001 for
CfIT)