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RURAL ACCESSIBILITY

CHAPTER SEVEN FOCUS GROUPS

7.1 During the telephone surveys all interviewees were asked if they would be prepared to participate in a focus group to explore practical problems and solutions in greater detail. From the list of willing participants fifteen people in each study area were selected to provide as balanced a sample as possible.

7.2 It was found that mainly car owners and higher socio-economic groups were prepared to participate. There were some non car owners but insufficient to allow any choice of age group, gender etc. There were no potential representatives who were unemployed so the people most likely to be socially excluded were not represented. Whether the "socially included" can give a balanced view of what needs to be achieved to help socially excluded people is a matter of debate. However, as discussed in Chapter 3, to engage fully with socially excluded people relies on community based approaches which are resource intensive and impractical within the context of this project.

7.3 The selected people were contacted by telephone and in most cases said they were able to attend. A letter was then sent confirming the arrangements and agenda for the meetings. A copy of the letter is given at Appendix F. A total of 22 people attended the focus groups and Table 17 summarises the characteristics of the participants. High income and high car ownership groups are over represented compared with the postal and telephone surveys but the sample included the required range of characteristics to allow typical views to be obtained.

Table 17 - Characteristics of Focus Group Participants

7.4 Despite the agenda for the five focus groups being identical, the themes which were of interest to participants in each of the areas were significantly different. Also in each area the discussions regularly returned to particular local issues. It became clear that the main obstacles to good accessibility in each area were viewed as follows:

• Caithness and Sutherland - The fragile economy and services
• East Ayrshire - The general social problems
• East Lothian - Developing better scheduled public transport particularly rail
• West Aberdeenshire - The desirability and impracticality of public transport
• Wigtownshire - Transport, practical rural lifestyles and the local economy.

7.5 A summary of the discussion at each of the groups is given at Appendix G. Table 18 identifies the main themes to emerge from each group.

Table 17 - Key Issues at Focus Groups

7.6 The focus groups provided an opportunity to test the reactions of rural dwellers to the sort of initiatives which could be implemented. Various ideas for making improvements had been suggested during the postal and telephone surveys and in discussions with the local authorities and transport operators.

7.7 The reactions to possible initiatives are summarised below by mode.

Rail

7.8 Rail improvements were widely sought and the lack of development of the rail network was considered to be partly related to inefficiency and profiteering within the rail industry. Where there were existing rail lines they were considered to have potential to carry many more trains within the rural area. There was a poor understanding of the very high cost of providing rail services relative to bus services, particularly where new rail infrastructure was required. When asked if investment in buses could overcome the perceived advantages of rail over bus with regard to reliability and comfort it was considered that such improvements were theoretically possible but that it was highly unlikely that they would ever be achieved.

Bus

7.9 There were frequent criticisms of the use of old and large buses to provide scheduled services when smaller new buses would be more attractive. The current fragile economics of providing rural bus services was poorly understood including the need for, and cost of, having suitable vehicles available for school transport. Several groups commented on recent publicity about the possibility of dedicated school buses for the UK but opinion was divided about whether taxes should be higher to allow better buses for both school and public services.

7.10 Demand responsive services were viewed as a positive step for the limited number of trips which people wished to plan in advance. However people commented that they often were not able or did not wish to plan in advance so there was still a need for more frequent conventional services.

Taxi

7.11 Problems with the availability of taxis were common to all of the rural areas. Examples were described of how organisers of late night events or pub owners could help to encourage sharing of taxis. Participants thought that public authorities should encourage more people to consider working as part time taxi drivers.

Community Transport

7.12 The delicate balance between the needs and aims of the various stakeholders in community transport was highlighted. Each stakeholder needs to get more out than they put in for them to participate. Local people want the satisfaction of contributing to society and public agencies need to see a good return on any public resources. Co-existence of such diverse aims within initiatives can cause problems. For example one focus group member who participated in a community car scheme commented that participants could easily become disillusioned if public agencies became involved as they would "then want the scheme run their way". Interest in community transport was dependent on people having personal time or resources to contribute to the community, so the potential for new schemes in the areas with weak community capacity was not thought to be high, even though the need was often greater in these areas.

Car

7.13 Participants nearly all felt that more car sharing was practical and many said they would be happy to provide lifts more often themselves if they were aware of other peoples' travel needs. This appears to be an area where developing electronic communications could make a significant impact.

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