The challenge
Public transport is an essential service for millions of people in the UK, enabling them to access work, education, health, leisure and social activities. There are numerous factors that affect people’s use of public transport, as well as their satisfaction and wellbeing while travelling. One factor that was highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic and remains relevant today is infection concern. Previous research commissioned suggests that some people are still hesitant to use public transport owing to concerns about these infections.
In 2023, Frontier Economics and BMG were commissioned to explore people’s concerns about infections such as flu, coughs, colds and COVID-19 in relation to their public transport use. BMG carried out in-depth qualitative research, which generated insights that will inform the development of interventions to improve users’ experiences of public transport.
The solution
We carried out 24 in-depth interviews with people who had concerns about infections when using public transport. We also sampled for and recruited people with a range of physical and mental health conditions and who used different types of public transport for different purposes.
The outcome
The research resulted in a behavioural typology with five categories: the Pragmatist, the Daytripper, the Concerned Commuter, the Advocate and the Carer. These categories highlighted the similarities and differences between participants’ infection concerns and public transport use. The findings will be used by the transport operator to identify opportunities to enable more people to use public transport and improve the experience of public transport for all users.
The report can be found here.