Three north-east organisations are hoping to encourage commuters to ditch their cars and take the bus.
Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce has teamed up with First Bus and Nestrans to find out why residents in the north-east might be reluctant to use public transport.
Previous research by the Chamber found many commuters cited a lack of flexibility and timetabling issues as reasons for not hopping on board.
By digging deeper into the issues in a new online survey, the partners hope to pinpoint ways to remove any obstacles.
Emma Smalley, research team leader at the Chamber said: “There can be many potential barriers, such as price or a lack of information – people don’t know where to go to find a timetable or don’t know how to find a suitable route.”
Last night Councillor Ross Thomson said issues with Aberdeen’s transport system often came down to infrastructure.
The ward member for Hazlehead, Ashley and Queen’s Cross added: “Aberdeen does need to get out of its car culture, but it is difficult as the public transport system isn’t as great as it is in places like Glasgow and Edinburgh.
“To encourage more people to use public transport we need to invest in roads and create a service that is fit for purpose.”
David Phillips, managing director of First Aberdeen said the firm had already invested heavily in improving the quality of its fleet.
He added: “The punctuality of buses has never been better with more than 95% of services arriving on time and at our at our most recent fares review we announced that for the third year running the majority of fares would either be held in price or reduced.
“We have a number of exciting initiatives planned for 2015 to further improve our services, including another significant investment in new buses, which we hope will attract more people on to the bus.”
The chamber hopes the research will be complete by the start of April.
Anyone wishing to take part can contact research@agcc.co.uk.
