28/05/2010
The START project is now almost half complete and is progressing well in Liverpool. We have recently completed a visitor survey which was undertaken during Easter 2010 at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Liverpool Lime Street rail station and on-board the world famous Mersey Ferries.
The surveys were carried out to assess where respondents came from, method of travel to Liverpool, length of stay, purpose of visit and methods of transport within the Liverpool area whilst staying. The results of the survey will help Merseytravel to evaluate a new smartcard ticket we hope to launch through the START project in Spring 2011.
The main results of the survey found:
- The internet would be the most popular place to purchase the new ticket with 78% of respondents stating this would be their preferred method.
- 54% of respondents came from the UK and Republic of Ireland, 9% from Spain, 6% from France and 2% from Portugal.
- 53% of respondents travelled to Liverpool by air, 27% by rail and 13% by private car.
- Local bus is the most common form of transport used to get from the airport to the city centre.
- The top three reasons visitors came to Liverpool were for shopping, visiting family and friends and visiting tourist attractions.
The results of the survey are currently being analysed and will help to inform the scope of the smartcard pilot such as where the smartcards are sold, what type of ticket e.g. 1 day, 2 day 3 day etc and how the ticket will be sold e.g. from an automated machine or at a ticket kiosk.