Written evidence from the Institute of Transport and Tourism (AWC 22)

Summary of Preliminary Results from Survey of Winter Weather and Travel

1) The on-line survey was launched on 6th December and was circulated to the users of as many organisations concerned with travel that we could contact. It was closed on January 20th with 1089 responses, reporting 791 trips which were affected by the weather.

2) Respondents

There were responses from all regions of the UK, although the response was very uneven. Figure 1 gives the proportions.

Figure 1: Respondents’ Regions

	Numbers	% of Valid Responses
London	81	8
Scotland	87	8
Wales	41	4
Northern Ireland	16	1
North West	324	30
North East	38	4
Yorkshire and Humberside	204	19
West Midlands	17	2
East Midlands	35	3
East Anglia	63	6
South West	108	10
South East	65	6
Total	1079	0
Region not given	10	0
	1089	100

For every region the problems reported by most people were ‘icy’, ‘extreme cold’ and snow, with varying degrees of heaviness (light, medium and heavy).

3) Modes used

The survey covered journeys by all modes. Figure 2 indicates the number of journeys the percentage of trips using each mode. The percentage exceeds 100% as it includes trips using more than one mode. The following sheets summarise some of the data for trips by different modes.

Figure 2: Modes used

Mode	Numbers using mode	% of journeys
Walk	142	18.0
Car	403	50.9
Bus	133	16.8
Train	216	27.3
cycle	92	11.6
Coach	2	0.3
Plane	31	3.9
Taxi	7	0.9
Other	16	2.0

4) Mode data

These sheets give information about trips made by different modes. Cycling, coach and taxi travel has not been included because of the small numbers of journeys reported

Most of the terms are self-explanatory. Others are explained here

Mode: Number of trips using that mode, including multi-modal trips

Minimum number of trips disrupted: Respondents were asked how many of their trips had been disrupted, with a multiple choice answer (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, more than 5). This figure is obtained by multiplying the numbers of trips by the number of respondents and using six trips for those replying ‘more than 5’.

Inconvenience and Distress Caused Index: Respondents were asked how much inconvenience/distress did this cause you/other people with the possible answers: None, Very Little, Some, A Great Deal. Giving these numerical values (1, 2, 3 and 4) allows us to work out an average, which is reported here.

Mode Walk, Number of Trips reported 142, Minimum number of trips disrupted: 505 Looked for information before journey: 75%

		% of total trips for walking
Main Journey Purposes	Shopping	4
	Getting to education	6
	Getting to work	72
Most Important problems	Public Transport unpredictable	14
	Difficult driving/walking conditions	18
	Dangerous pavements	31
Main Consequences	Used a different travel method	28
	It was cancelled	38
	It took longer	64

Inconvenience and Distress Caused Index

Inconvenience to Self?	Inconvenience to other people?	Distress to self?	Distress to other people?
3.06	2.78	2.35	2.21

Mode: Car Number of Trips reported 402 Minimum number of trips disrupted 1,118 Looked for information before journey: 83%

		% of total trips for mode
Main Journey Purposes	Business travel	7
	Visiting/Meeting Friends and Relations	11
	Getting to work	62
Most Important problems	Blocked roads	8
	Difficult driving/walking conditions	28
	Dangerous roads	35
Main Consequences	It was cancelled	29
	Didn't travel	39
	It took longer	52

Inconvenience and Distress Caused Index

Inconvenience to Self?	Inconvenience to other people?	Distress to self?	Distress to other people?
2.87	2.69	2.22	2.17

Mode: Bus Number of Trips reported: 133 Minimum number of trips disrupted: 411 Looked for information before journey: 85%

		% of total trips for bus trips
Main Journey Purposes	Shopping	4
	Reaching health care	4
	Getting to work	71
Most Important problems	Public Transport unpredictable	18
	Public Transport delayed	22
	Public Transport not running	31
Main Consequences	It was cancelled	23
	Used a different travel method	26
	It took longer	66

Inconvenience and Distress Caused Index

Inconvenience to Self?	Inconvenience to other people?	Distress to self?	Distress to other people?
3.05	2.81	2.29	2.18

Mode: Train Number of Trips reported: 216 Minimum number of trips disrupted: 633 Looked for information before journey 93%

		% of total trips for mode
Main Journey Purposes	Visiting/Meeting Friends and Relations	9
	Business travel	17
	Getting to work	59
Most Important problems	Public Transport unpredictable	19
	Public Transport not running	23
	Public Transport delayed	31
Main Consequences	Used a different travel method	29
	It was postponed	34
	It took longer	61

Inconvenience and Distress Caused Index

Inconvenience to Self?	Inconvenience to other people?	Distress to self?	Distress to other people?
3.13	2.95	2.40	2.29

Mode: Plane Number of Trips reported: 31 Minimum number of trips disrupted: 50, Looked for information before journey 81%

		% of total trips for mode
Main Journey Purposes	Business travel	19
	Visiting/Meeting Friends and Relations	23
	Holiday or day out	32
Most Important problems	Public Transport delayed	2
	Other	5
	Runways blocked	20
Main Consequences	It took longer	45
	It was delayed	45
	It was postponed	48

Inconvenience and Distress Caused Index

Inconvenience to Self?	Inconvenience to other people?	Distress to self?	Distress to other people?
3.45	3.16	3.03	3.00

5) The majority of respondents said they looked for information before travelling. Plane travel disruptions appear to cause the most distress and inconvenience to both the traveller and other people, disruptions to car travel appear to cause the lest inconvenience and distress.

6) Opinions

Respondents were given statements about the winter weather and asked to indicate their opinion. On the following scale:

Disagree Strongly, Disagree. Neutral, Agree, Agree Strongly and Don’t know.

The statements were:

1. Britain always seems unprepared for bad weather.

2. Preparing for weather that only occurs a few days a year would be too expensive.

3. I would be willing to pay higher fares/road tax for better preparation.

4. Clearing pavements of snow and ice is as important as clearing roads.

5. Climate Change means we can expect more extreme weather more often.

6. Bad weather brings out the best in people.

Figure 3 shows the percentage of valid responses agreeing and disagreeing with each statement. The columns below the line represent the percentage of people disagreeing and disagreeing strongly to the statement, those above, the percentage who agreed or agreed strongly to the statement. The responses of people who said they were neutral or did not know have been included in the percentages, but not shown on the chart.

Figure 3: Opinions

This indicates that over 80% of valid responses agreed that clearing pavements of ice and snow was as important as clearing roads. Most people disagreed that they would be willing to pay more in road tax or higher fares to be more prepared for bad weather, although nearly 70% of valid responses agreed that Britain always seemed unprepared. Opinion was most closely split on the question of whether it would be too expensive to prepare for conditions which might only last a few days a year with 46% of valid responses agreeing with the statement and 39% disagreeing. There were statistically significant differences between the answers from different regions and genders for some of the questions.

7) Conclusions

This is a short summary of the survey findings, much of the analysis remains to be completed. It illustrates how the scale and scope of the disruption varies with the local weather, the journey purpose, frequency and length. We hope soon to have more findings about the consequences of the disruption, including people who found they could not make journeys because of the closure of facilities such as schools requiring them to care for others or because of cancellation of events or closure of destinations.

February 2011

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