While out on a recent bus journey I was approached by Passenger Focus to take part in a Bus Passenger Survey. As this is a subject that we have discussed on the forum I thought it would be good to share my experience.
THE SAMPLE:
I boarded the bus at the start of a route noticing the Passenger Focus person introducing herself to the driver. Every passenger was approached and given information on the purpose of Passenger Focus and invited to take part in a survey. As other passengers boarded the bus along the route they were also invited to take part in the survey. No one refused to take part in the survey so the good news is 100% of passengers on the said run were given a survey form.
The form consists of 8 pages on A4 paper and we were advised to complete the form and return it in the pre-paid envelope provided. The instruction was to complete the form based on that actual journey only. It is fair to say that while there was 100% take up of the survey form it is open to debate how many forms are actually returned to Passenger Focus.
There has been comment in the past that these surveys seem to be completed by OAP’s on concessionary travel, sadly that was true of my journey with around 80% of passengers being on concessions. Incidentally I don’t fall into that category so I have made sure that my form is returned to represent the minority passenger group on the journey. Let’s hope that Passenger Focus go out on some early morning or late evening journeys where they might get a better mix of age groups for their survey.
When I have taken part in market research in the past I have always been asked if I am employed in certain sectors that would give a biased result. I am somewhat surprised that I was not asked if I was a current or ex employee with the bus operator or one of their competitors as a means filltering out any biased results.
THE SURVEY:
Question 31 of the survey asked questions relating to the driver and if he / she is doing their job as normal this would in my opinion automatically create a high score for that section. In any event I would expect management to advise drivers what they need to be aware of if a Passenger Focus survey person boards their bus.
Question 22 look at the cleanliness of the bus which makes me wonder if these surveys are unannounced or if they are programmed in advance. I just found it strange to have a bus that was exceptionally clean during the mid morning period.
Question 34 & 35 asks about value for money which is a fair question but considering 80% of my fellow passengers were on free concessionary travel the results will be somewhat skewed.
Question 12 asked about bus shelters or other places where the bus was boarded, a reasonable question but something that is not within the control of the operator. I have to wonder if this question is taken out of the percentage figure that the operator uses in their customer satisfaction results.
THE SURVEY FORM:
I hope the information above gives a brief overview of my experience with Passenger Focus. I have not uploaded the 8 page survey form on the assumption that it will be available on the web. I have however scanned the survey form so if anyone wants to see any extracts or even the full document just let me know and I will upload it.