The right research creates the right place

With over 40 years of experience in the transport sector, SYSTRA’s Social and Market Research team provide customised research, public and stakeholder consultation, and monitoring and evaluation to understand how new transport policies, schemes and services are likely to impact diverse groups of people and stakeholders.

Our team knows the ins and outs of all things research, ensuring clients can uncover insights from their smart citizens to create places that thrive, and mobility that addresses the needs of current and future generations.

This month, we’re excited to be attending the European Transport Conference in Belgium to share just some of our forward-thinking research studies.

Riding, walking, wheeling, cycling and the Strategic Road Network in the South West of England

Throughout our first presentation at the event, we will share SYSTRA’s exciting and innovative research methods which explored the experiences of riders, walkers, wheelers and cyclists when travelling on, across or adjacent to the Strategic Road Network (SRN) in the South West of England, on behalf of Transport Focus.

SYSTRA’s team delivered site audits, accompanied user journeys, intercept surveys and business interviews at four different SRN sites across the region – all within one week!

The resulting recommendations for National Highways definitely make for an interesting read.

Mobility as a Service in the Midlands

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) offers an opportunity to reconsider how sustainable transport services are provided to citizens.

During this presentation, we’ll discuss how SYSTRA have used co-design methods to place members of the public, internal stakeholders, transport operators, and MaaS providers at the heart of the design process for a new MaaS application in Nottingham and Derby.

Co-design is a collaborative approach where multiple stakeholders input into the design of a product; with the feedback obtained informing the solution being developed.

Through the co-design feedback obtained, SYSTRA were able to develop an options appraisal and procurement specification that considered the local context of each city, with respect to their socio-demographics, stakeholder landscape, modes of transport, and plans for ticketing.

Simplified bus ticketing in North Wales

Transport for Wales (TfW) introduced a simplified ‘Tap On, Tap Off’ (TOTO) payment option across 25 bus operators in North Wales in February 2023. Key to all of TfW’s work, is ensuring initiatives are well-researched to enable customer-centric and data-led decision making.

We’ll be presenting insights from three-phases of research delivered by SYSTRA to understand views toward TOTO before, during and after implementation.

The resulting recommendations from the research align with TfW’s ongoing work to create an integrated, accessible and affordable transport network for all, and ensure that scheme benefits continue to be realised. These range from continuing to deliver a successful communications and marketing campaign to address gaps in knowledge and awareness of TOTO, and wider bus network improvements.

New transport policies, schemes and services are likely to impact diverse groups of people and stakeholders. Understanding these impacts has never been more important, with the COVID-19 pandemic and UK cost of living pressures introducing additional challenges for mobility for many people, and efforts to achieve net zero providing opportunities to address these.

Our Social and Market Research team put people at the heart of public sector decision making, delivering robust research evidence to create the right place for current and future generations.

If you want to hear more, be sure to attend our sessions at the European Transport Conference on 18^th-20^th September!

Find out more about SYSTRA’s Social and Market Research team on our website, or reach out directly to our Director of Behaviour Change and Research, Carry Stephenson.

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