This paper reports on key findings from a collaborative study whose objective was to
produce an up-to-date guidance manual on the factors affecting the demand for public
transport for use by public transport operators and planning authorities, and for
academics and other researchers. Whilst a wide range of factors was examined in the
study, the paper concentrates on the findings regarding the influence of fares, quality
of service and income and car ownership. The results are a distillation and synthesis
of identified published and unpublished information on the factors affecting public
transport demand. The context is principally that of urban surface transport in Great
Britain, but extensive use was made in the study of international sources and examples.