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6. Good Practice Review

Aims of Good Practice Review

6.1 This research has explored some examples of good practice of public transport access to cultural activity both within the UK, and internationally. This research has been undertaken through desk-based internet research, discussions with industry professionals and has also called on experience gained by members of the research team. The purpose of the good practice review has been to identify examples in the UK and abroad where significant modal share by sustainable modes has been achieved, and to learn good practice from this.

6.2 The ideal characteristics of the good practice examples studied have included the following:

• Ideally reflecting the types of examples we will be exploring in the research (for example, rural, remote, urban; multi location, single location; permanent, one-off)
• Accessible by bus, rail, cycling, walking, community/voluntary transport
• Illustrating types of solutions to promote accessibility for example partnership working between local transport authority, transport operators, event organisers/managers; use of good transport information; provision of special transport services for the event.

6.3 The following section of the report initially considers good practice within Scotland, before considering the UK as a whole. Examples are also given from Norway and New Zealand where similar barriers and issues exists (i.e. geography / landscape , population density characteristics and cultural events).

Scottish Good Practice

6.4 T In The Park

6.5 Scotland's largest music festival, 'T In The Park', occurs annually at Balado near Kinross in Fife. The event attracts around 50,000 music lovers on each day of the 3-day event.

6.6 With the event being held in a rural setting, transport provision is an important aspect of ensuring a successful event. Scottish Citylink was appointed as the official transport provider to T in the Park for 2007. This follows on from a successful partnership in 2006 where Scottish Citylink carried around 32,000 people to the event.

6.7 As in previous years, a fast and frequent shuttle bus service operated from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth over the three days of the event, encompassing some 200 buses undertaking 650 individual departures. In addition there was direct services from other major centres including Inverness, Aberdeen and Dundee. Connecting services were also available from across Scotland on the Citylink network and from England and Wales in partnership with National Express bus operator.

6.8 As with all out door events, the weather can play an important role in the success of such an event. Unfortunately the 2007 festival suffered from heavy rain fall on the opening day of the event and as a result some of the designated car parks was closed due to flooding, resulting in major traffic tailbacks on the approach to the site.

6.9 Trossachs Trundler

6.10 Operating throughout the summer the 'Trossachs Trundler' bus service was introduced to improve access to the countryside by public transport. The bus departs from Stirling Bus Station and serves many of the tourist villages in the Trossachs region, including Callander, Kilmahog, Brig O'Turk, Trossachs Pier, Queen Elizabeth Forest Park Visitor Centre, Aberfoyle and Port of Menteith. The buses are permitted to drop off and pick up passengers at any point along the route to ensure the service is as convenient as possible.

6.11 With the service operating for a limited period of the year, marketing of the service was viewed as crucial to ensuring a good initial take up of the service. Part of this marketing involved the bus with its regular driver being taken along the proposed route and meeting with various businesses owners and visitor centre operators. This proved very useful and helped to raise the profile of the service prior to it entering operation.

6.12 The service is subsidised by Stirling Council and operated by a private bus operator under contract. Various ticket types have also been introduced to broaden the appeal of the service. One such ticket being the Day Rover ticket. This ticket gives unlimited travel for one day between Stirling, Callander, Trossachs and Aberfoyle and return on the Trossach Trundler service and also on First Buses services within the region.

6.13 Aviemore toCairngorm Bus Service

6.14 Introduced initially as a pilot scheme in 2004, the Aviemore to Cairngorm Bus service sought to improve public transport provision within the Cairngorm National Park, specifically from Dalfaber to Cairngorm Mountain via the Aviemore railway station ⁷⁹. A regular hourly service on Mondays to Saturdays throughout the year was introduced.

6.15 Similar to other rural schemes, the service operates on a 'hail and ride' principle allowing passengers to be pick up and dropped off anywhere along the route, thus ensuring the service is as convenient as possible.

6.16 To promote the service the slogan 'Take the Bus - Protect the Environment - Enjoy the Change' was produced and featured in a leaflet promoting the service and detailing the times and stationed stops.

6.17 Highland Council has helped to improve this service through agreement with bus operators to alter previous rural transport budget funded contract services covering the area. The scheme has been further supported by bus operator Rapson's commitment to the project through agreeing to operate the service in the spring and autumn at no additional cost to the Council.

6.18 Key stakeholders involved with the service include representatives from the public sector, local businesses and the local community. Together they aim to identify further opportunities for the service to ensure it remains successful.

6.19 Ticketing for the service has been enhanced with the introduction of a Rover ticket. This ticket permits unlimited travel for one day, encouraging passengers to hop on and off frequently to explore as many of the local attractions as possible.

6.20 As well as the obvious benefits to tourism of the bus service, local businesses and residents have also benefited with improved public transport available for locals to travel to and from work, shops and attractions. In summary this new and enhanced bus service has resulted in all round benefits for tourism, the community and the environment.

English Good Practice

6.21 Glastonbury Festival

6.22 Glastonbury is a music and performing arts festival, which takes place over a 6 day period in June each year. The event is held on a 900-acre site adjacent to the village of Pilton near Glastonbury in rural Somerset. The event attracts a large number of visitors with 150,000 people travelling to the site in 2004. As a result of the rural setting and large visitor numbers, a traffic management strategy is a key element for organisers to consider.

6.23 To highlight the importance of the travel management strategy, Mendip District Council requires the festival organisers to submit their strategy as part of the public entertainment licence application. The strategy is expected to demonstrate that measures are in place to limit the social and environmental impacts of festival traffic on the surrounding area.

6.24 In order to meet the requirements for sustainable travel and traffic management to and from the event site, a number of transport options are presented:

• Rail and Ride - Castle Cary on the mainline from Penzance to London Paddington is the nearest railway station to the festival site. During the 6-day period of the festival additional and extended trains operate on the routes serving the station stop. Due to the limited capacity at Castle Cary station, the station car park is used as a waiting area for pick up and drop off from the shuttle bus serving the festival site. The shuttle bus timetable is co-ordinated with the train timetable to limit waiting times and operates from 06:00 hrs until around 23:00 hrs on each day of the festival. In 2004, this service carried around 14,000 festival goers
• Bus - First Bus operates daily hourly services linking the centres of Bristol, Bath, Shepton Mallet and Glastonbury with the festival site. A bus station is located within the festival grounds, close to all the attractions to ensure that travel by bus is as convenient as possible for visitors. In previous years around 7,000 people have accessed the site using this service
• Coaches - in 2004, National Express ran 81 services to and from Glastonbury from 53 locations across the UK and over 6,500 people chose to use their services. In addition, private coaches operate from other regions and cities across the UK
• Car Sharing - car sharing organisations Lifeshare.com and Freewheelers both provide support for car sharing at Glastonbury with links provided on the official Glastonbury website. In 2004 around 3,000 people enquired about the possibility of car sharing with car sharers estimated to have saved 500,000 miles and 186 tonnes of CO2 from using the car sharing scheme
• Car Parking - for people who do decide to travel to the site by private car, official car parking sites are provided. Drivers are required to apply for a parking place prior to travelling and to display their ticket type to assist traffic organisers with directing each vehicle to the relevant car park. Staff, performers and guests are also encouraged to travel sustainably, with only 1 car parking permit issued for every 4 hospitality guests and sponsors encouraged to transport staff by coach
• Traffic Management - in 2004, 24 temporary road closures where implemented to limit the impact of traffic on surrounding villages and minimise disruption to local residents

6.25 Communication is an essential aspect of the travel management strategy to ensure every aspect of the plan operates as required. The local highways authority, traffic police and affected local residents are all invited to meetings prior to the event each year to discuss and resolve traffic related issues. Partnerships are also formed with car sharing organisations, bus operators and rail operating companies.

6.26 In order to raise awareness among visitors, a 'Fine Guide' is posted to each person who purchases a festival ticket. This guide provides detailed information on different travel options and attempts to encourage people to travel sustainably. This guide is further supported by additional travel information presented on the official festival website.

6.27 The development of the traffic management strategy as detailed above has resulted in measures that have helped to limit the social and environmental impact of festival traffic by reducing congestion and pollution, as well as increasing safety. All of these benefits have helped to improve relations with local residents and council representatives.

6.28 Yorkshire Dales

6.29 The Yorkshire Dales are promoting the use of sustainable travel within the region for tourists through the marketing campaign 'Give your car a holiday'. This approach presents potential visitors to the area with a number of alternative sustainable transport options to consider when visiting and touring around the region. The available options are presented on the region's website with links to an external site for more specific information.

6.30 The Dales Bus discount scheme is highlighted, which provides a regular daily service between the market towns, with a less frequent service to the surrounding villages. During the summer period additional bus services operate within the area and tourists are encouraged to park their cars at the edge of the Dales and use the bus to tour around. The Royal Mail Postbus is another service available in the more remote areas of the region. All of the above transport options are supported by websites providing fare and timetable information.

6.31 Rail travel within the region is also suggested as a good way of exploring the countryside. Again links are provided from the main website to fare and timetable information for the various rail routes available.

6.32 Arts Express Networking Project, Marketing Arts Coventry and Warwickshire

6.33 The Arts Express Networking Project ⁸⁰, with £20,000 of New Audiences Grant from Arts Council England, aimed to attract new rural audiences to a range of arts events by providing free transport and using an `animateur' to carry out outreach work with community groups in the area. Research commissioned by West Midlands Arts in 1995 had found that transport was one of the barriers to people attending arts events in the rural areas of North Warwickshire.

6.34 A pilot transport scheme, Arts Express, was set up at the time of the research in association with the touring group, Live and Local. The aims of the project were:

• To reach specific new audiences including - people living in rural areas, elderly people, young people aged 14 - 20 and parents with pre-school children
• To overcome particular barriers to attending arts events, such as lack of transport, cost of transport and cost of attending arts events; and lack of accessible information
• To identify new potential audiences and supporters

6.35 A networker or 'animateur' was employed for 6 months and contacted 207 groups and individuals offering information on arts events in the area. The 'Arts Express' was also set up which offered bookings to certain arts events, free coach transport on specific dates and a representative to accompany the trip. This was promoted through leaflets and the local press as a `hassle free' way of going out and a way of encouraging people to try something new.

6.36 A total of 433 people attended 21 events at 5 venues. Transport was the main attraction for 74% of people using the Arts Express. They valued the door-to-door service provided and the personal contact with the organiser.

Outcome and lessons learnt

6.37 The project gathered first hand information on barriers which prevented people from attending arts events. These confirmed expectations but were also much greater than expected. They included lack of transport to events, the cost of transport, access to information and childcare. Information was sometimes not available on what was happening and needed to be well in advance to organise an outing.

6.38 Young People's Transport Scheme, Midland Arts Marketing

6.39 Using a New Audiences Grant of £10,000 from Arts England, this project ⁸¹ attempted to explore the barriers posed to arts attendance by lack of transport. It worked with 16 to 19 year olds, drawn from schools and workplaces in rural and urban Northamptonshire.

6.40 Previous research had suggested that one of the barriers to arts attendance in rural areas was lack of transport, and that this was particularly the case amongst young people. The same research indicated that other significant barriers were the negative preconception of the arts, the cost of attending, and a lack of awareness of arts events. This project set out to explore these assumptions.

Outcomes and lessons learned

6.41 When rural attendees were offered free transport and discounted tickets in Phase One, 16 people took up the offer. By contrast, when they were offered a programme geared to their stated preferences, but without free transport, 80 people took up the offer. This indicated that transport was not as significant a barrier as had been supposed, a finding backed up by feedback from the focus groups. Indeed, 30% of the rural group had their own cars.

"If you go to gigs like concerts and stuff, then we go … wherever they are"

6.42 In urban areas, while the offer of a free taxi ride was enthusiastically taken up, transport was not seen as a barrier.

6.43 Ballet Bus, English National Ballet

6.44 The Ballet Bus project ⁸², using £10,000 grant from Arts England fund for New Audiences, provided free transport to 3 English National Ballet performances for people in rural Cumbria. The performances took place at Forum 28, a venue in Barrow-in-Furness. The project promoted and advertised the scheme via local representatives. It distributed information prior to the performances and organised the transport.

6.45 One of the barriers to arts events attendance is lack of transport, particularly in rural areas where public transport is often inadequate, especially in the evenings. The Ballet Bus project addressed the issue of lack of transport in rural Cumbria.

6.46 The aims of the project were as follows:

• To provide transport to people who would otherwise not attend ballet performances
• To provide transport to those who may have used their own transport but for whom a bus might be more attractive
• To enable single people to attend, who might like to travel as part of a group

6.47 The project provided a free bus service on 6 and 7 April 1999 to 3 performances at Forum 28 at Barrow-in-Furness.. In total there were 17 bus journeys from various outlying areas, to Barrow-in-Furness, and back.

6.48 A regional co-ordinator worked with a group of local representatives. To publicise the scheme, the project produced leaflets including information on the performances and on how to use the scheme, including the bus service. People who had previously used the venue were sent information. Posters were put up to publicise the scheme. A local newspaper contributed sponsorship in kind by providing editorial and free advertising space. As a result, 546 people used the Ballet Bus. This was lower than expected, but all performances were sold out.

Outcomes and lessons learned

6.49 The project attracted people from further a field than ever before. Some people with their own transport used the Ballet Bus, as they found this easier. There was much positive feedback from local people regarding leaflets and posters. Anecdotal evidence pointed to this publicity having a strong impact and creating the desire to participate in the scheme. Feedback from participants included:

'I would come to see lots of arts events on a bus in the future'

'It has inspired me to see a full ballet'.

International good practice - Norway

Quart Festivalen, Kristiansand 3 to 7 July⁸³

6.50 A music festival established in 1992 and since held annually at the beginning of July. The festival has a wide variety of music genres including pop, rock, metal hip hop and electronic music. The festival has about 15,000 visitors per day over the 5 day period.

6.51 The festival organisers encourage people to travel to the site by modes other than private car due to parking constraints. The website gives information on how to travel to the festival by different modes of public transport. The QuartCamp, which is the camping area for the festival, is about 1km from the stage area and has a shuttle bus going between the camp and the stage area. Kristiansand is well served by trains, buses, air travel and ferries.

Success factors and lessons to be learnt

6.52 Congestion in Kristiansand resulting from summer tourists combined with limited local car parking spaces meant that it was essential for the Quart Festivalen to encourage travel by public transport. Feedback suggests that the shuttle service from the campsite to the festival area seems to be working well.

Lost Weekend Askoy 2 to 4 August ⁸⁴

6.53 Lost Weekend was established in 2001 by a group of friends and is a rock, hip-hop and hard rock music festival attracting around 12,000 visitors.

6.54 Boat and bus transport is specially put on for travel to the festival site and use of private car is discouraged. Parking spaces at the festival site are limited but there is a Park and Ride site at a school some way from the stage, with a shuttle service operating between. Boat owners can travel and park adjacent to the site.

Success factors and lessons to be learned

6.55 The festival is promoting sustainable travel and is encouraging people to use specially provided buses and boats. They do provide some parking further away from the festival site and have a shuttle service running on a regular basis.

International good practice - New Zealand

6.56 Museum of New Zealand - Te Papa Tongarewa

6.57 Te Papa Tonegawa opened in 1998 and has built a worldwide reputation for its fresh and bold approach to presenting New Zealand's treasures and stories. In that time, over ten million people have visited the museum. The museum is located on the city of Wellington's waterfront and is within easy walking distance of the city centre.

6.58 The museum's website provides a full range of travel information. Walking and public transport are detailed first followed by taxi, car and air. Specific details of bus routes that take visitors to the site are included - buses operate on a regular 10 minute frequency.

6.59 There are 250 charged car parking spaces Bus parking is also available along with space for motorcycles and bikes. Five disabled parking bays are provided. Car park charges are high relative to bus and act as a disincentive.

Concluding comments

6.60 There are elements of good practice which are applicable to Scotland from elsewhere. However, some of these elements of good practice, such as combined entry and travel ticketing, are already being done for some cultural activity in Scotland, although not uniformly, which may in itself be an issue. The provision of adequate information linked with marketing of sustainable transport modes, is also a critical factor for Scottish cultural activity providers to focus on.

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