Currently, traffic performance of the city public transport is 13,5 times lower than traffic performance realised in the city by personal vehicles. Usage of the city public transport in Ústí nad Labem is relatively high compared to similar cities in the Czech Republic, although improvements of services are still needed.
The goal of the study was to map usage of public transportation in the city and to determine public opinion of PT users on its services. It was based on a thorough analyses elaborated for the city in 2009 and on questioners distributed to wide public promoted by a campaign.
In total, Ústí nad Labem Public Transport Company in the city operates 16 bus lines, 11 trolleybus lines, 2 night bus lines, 2 cycle-buses and 2 ski-buses. The network consists of 251 stations. On average, 144 649 passengers are transported by the city public transport on a working day, 68 385 on Saturday and 51 860 on Sunday. It was revealed, that several connections operated overloaded while other PT lines were underutilised.
Recently, majority of PT connections have been optimised. The operating times were adjusted to correspond with beginning and end times of schools, opening hours of offices, businesses and services in the city, arrivals and departures of trains and working hours in factories. Intervals of individual connections were set to better correspond with each other. Some lines were cancelled or replaced. Selected lines were guaranteed to operate by low-floor trolleybuses to enable transportation of disabled passengers.
Survey of customer satisfaction revealed, that majority of respondents require improvements of the existing services rather than establishing new ones. They favour purchase of new and modern low-floor buses and trolleybuses, better maintenance of vehicles and stations and improved delivery of information. Residents also prefer calming the city centre, excluding the traffic and establishing pedestrian zones (92%). In general, residents are satisfied with public transportation but demand improvements in quality of services equal to the price of the ticket.
Based on results of the customer survey, the promotion campaign was held aimed at providing information to passengers (both existing and potential) in a comprehensible and attractive form. It was grounded on the fact that passengers perceive public transportation in a complex way, considering comfort of transport, convenience of timetables, quality of provided information and services, etc.
Requirements of individual target groups were surveyed and addressed in the campaign. City residents welcomed the effort to make city public transportation more attractive, whether by providing basic improvements (information brochures and other sources of comprehensive data about PT services) or extra services (free Wi-Fi connection in vehicles or competitions for PT users).
The campaign involved relatively many participants, which was considered as a success. Data from participants were utilised for measure evaluation (indicators of acceptance and awareness level) and will be further exploited for future activities of the city and the PT Company. Ústí nad Labem plans to organise similar events in the future, based on experience and best practise from CIVITAS campaigns.