Helping more people get to grips with their local transport system

There is a danger of professionals not realising how intimidating using local transport can be for some people. A little help can go a long way says Paul Salveson.

Initiatives to help people understand their local transport system in the North west and Yorkshire have addressed a range of audiences including school children, older people and ethnic communities

Initiatives to help people understand their local transport system in the North west and Yorkshire have addressed a range of audiences including school children, older people and ethnic communities

DR Paul salveson played a leading role in the formation in the late 1990s of the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP). In 2005, he joined Northern Rail as head of government and community strategies and in 2008 he was awarded an MBE for his services to the rail industry. He has since worked at Grand Central as external relations manager, and is now an independent advisor.

DR Paul salveson played a leading role in the formation in the late 1990s of the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP). In 2005, he joined Northern Rail as head of government and community strategies and in 2008 he was awarded an MBE for his services to the rail industry. He has since worked at Grand Central as external relations manager, and is now an independent advisor.

­I­­t’s easy to under-estimate how unfamiliar many people are with using public transport.  A lot of the population simply don’t ever take the train or bus- so have little conception of how the system works. Last year, a community group did some research in my neighbourhood about people’s awareness of local transport and it revealed a huge lack of understanding. We seem to very often assume that people somehow ‘know’ that there’s a train and...