§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations his Department has received on the PlusBus scheme; what support his Department and Transport Direct have provided: what assessment(a) has been made and (b) is planned of the scheme, and what the expected outcome is. [86083]
§ Mr. JamiesonMy Department works closely with Journey Solutions (the organisation responsible for the PlusBus scheme). The Department is represented, through the Transport Direct team, on both the Journey Solutions Board and Advisory Panel. Both of these groups have taken a close interest in the PlusBus scheme, offering support where appropriate, and will continue to do so. To date no representations from other organisations or members of the public have been received on the scheme as it was only launched publicly last month.
My Department is currently undertaking research on behalf of Journey Solutions to assess the Plus Bus scheme. The research will measure awareness of PlusBus; examine customer satisfaction with the product; critically review each step of the Plus Bus journey; test effectiveness of promotional components; confirm target market; and measure impact on travel patterns. The results of this research should be available by mid 2003. The research will contribute to the Department for Transport understanding about multi-modal ticketing—one of the Transport Direct strategic objectives.