Problem – The decline of bus patronage. This leads to increased congestion and social and economic isolation for lower income groups, the elderly and the disabled.
Opportunity – People are wanting to lead healthier lives and are concerned about pollution and congestion. The Solution – A national marketing campaign to promote the use of the bus. This policy would help the government to make the National Bus Strategy more successful. It would help to make a process of continued improvement in public transport.
The government’s National Bus Strategy is designed to improve the bus system. More investment in buses and infrastructure should increase bus patronage.
The solution to increasing bus patronage is a national marketing campaign to promote the bus. The advantages of this are that it might create a modal shift back to buses and public transport generally. More people returning to the bus encourages the further development of bus infrastructure and mass transit schemes.
Buses have an image problem. The solution is to change perceptions. How do you change perceptions? The way would be a marketing campaign to normalise bus use. The format for the marketing strategy would be multiformat. The use of social media would of course be a good and cost-effective way. All forms of media should be used especially television and YouTube advertisements. Celebrities and members of the public should both be used.
The bus needs to appeal to the 25-60 age group specifically. Currently and unfortunately outside of London the bus is seen by many people as being for the old, the young and the poor. In order to change this perception, the use of celebrities and members of the public in the 25-60 age group would help to make people think that the bus is for them. The public would be able to relate to them.
The celebrities or others could communicate in an informal way stating why they are using the bus. For example, they could say. I’m using the bus as it lets me check my twitter. I’m using the bus as it means I don’t have to mess about finding a car parking space. I’m using the bus so I can look at the country view. I’m using the bus as it is a lot easier than using uber.
This publicity should mention the fact that across the country the government, councils and operators are putting money in the make public transport better. The following points can be made.
Buses are now using contactless so it’s easier for the occasional bus user.
There are apps to let you pay for the bus and plan your journey.
Buses have CCTV.
Buses have WIFI.
Buses have USB sockets
Buses have audio visual.
The more people use the bus the better. Less congestion less pollution and more healthier people.
Most people are only 15 minutes or less away from a bus stop .
Bus stops are getting improved.
It would be sensible to have several publicity campaigns that feature just some of this information. This would be in order to stop information overload.
The campaign could run for a number of years. There could be focus groups taken in order to test the effectiveness of the publicity campaign. Changes could be made to take into account of what has been successful and what has not.
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