The formulation of marketing strategy in urban public transport

Abstract

This paper prescribes the parameters of marketing strategy formulation in the context of urban public transport and emphasises in particular the usefulness of the marketing mix and segmentation concepts. A marketing mix comprising the two primary dimensions of service attributes and promotion is advocated, the service attributes to include price, in-vehicle time, mesh density, frequency, reliability and comfort. Three primary trip purpose segments are identified viz. journey-to-work, shopping, and leisure/social trip segments, but these may be expanded into a twenty-four cell matrix once origin-destination and car access factors are included. The sensitivity of demand in these segments is examined mostly by reference to demonstration and experimental project data drawn from the United States and the United Kingdom. For the three primary trip purpose segments demand elasticity is shown to be greater for non-price than for price features; for both price and non-price service features elasticity is shown to be a function of journey purpose being least elastic for journey-to-work trips and most elastic for social/leisure trips. The role of promotion is examined and its importance to the successful marketing of public transport clearly demonstrated.