Image of trolleys among citizens. Results of TROLLEY project

Marcin Wolek Ph. D.

Prof. Olgierd Wyszomirski Ph. D.

Department of Transportation Market

University of Gdansk

Gdynia, 15.09.2011

Katedra Rynku Transportowego

Structure of presentation

• Importance of image for

citizens

• Marketing research in

Gdynia’s public transport

system

• Local Trolley Guides in

TROLLEY project

• Summary

Importance of image for citizens

Public transport market is currently being shaped by following

processes:

•individual motorisation growth;

•urban sprawl;

•growing customer expectations according to quality;

•lack of sufficient funding;

•part of citizens excluded from traditional communication

(promotional) channels.

Need for strenghtening position of public transport versus individual motorisation

Strong correlation between development of individual motorisation and GDP in Tricity in period of 2000 – 2009

What citizens are thinking about trolleys?

Semantic profile of public transport modes in Gdynia

• Prepared on the basis of vast marketing research

conducted in 2006 and 2010;

• Very good sample size;

• Sample designed with respect to gender, age and place of residence of citizens;

• Semantic profile being one of the basic tools for product evaluation, enables comparison between different

characteristics of the product.

Low cost

Comfortable

Clean

Punctual

Safe Unsafe

Unpunctual

Dirty

Uncomfortable

Slow

High cost

Bus trolleybus Urban railway

Fast

Source: Travelling habits and preferences of Gdynia citizens in 2004. ZKM

(Public Transport Authority) of Gdynia. Gdynia, January 2005.

Semantic profile of public transport modes in 2006 in Gdynia

5 1234

5 1234

5 1234

5 1234

5 1234

Unsafe

Unpunctual

Dirty

Uncomfortable

Slow

High cost

5 1234

Low cost

Punctual

Safe

Fast

Clean

Comfortable

bus trolleybus Urban railway

Semantic profile of public transport modes in 2010 in Gdynia

Local trolley guides

• prepared on the basis of Trolley project;

• six cities, small samples;

• Explanatory and qualitative research.

Process of sample preparation

Local trolley guides

Problems with sampling

• personal data protection and resources available;

• lack of list of passengers to be drawn to form a sample unit

based on probabilistic foundation (sample was non-

probabilistic);

• such a method is accepted if the aim of the research is

qualitative (or preliminary);

• Qualitative research is explanatory rather than confirmatory,

it provides an unstructured and flexible understanding of the

problem and relies on small samples.

Source: . M. Mazzocchi: Statistics for Marketing and Customer Research. SAGE, London 2008, p. 124

Semantic profile of trolleys in Eberswalde (Germany)

Source: K. Migdał- Najman, K. Najman, M. Wołek: WP5 of TROLLEY Project: Improved Image

and Patronage, Output 5.2.4 Local Trolley Guides. Final Report

Semantic profile of trolleys in Gdynia (Poland)

Source: K. Migdał- Najman, K. Najman, M. Wołek: WP5 of TROLLEY Project: Improved Image

and Patronage, Output 5.2.4 Local Trolley Guides. Final Report

Semantic profile of trolleys in Parma (Italy)

Source: K. Migdał- Najman, K. Najman, M. Wołek: WP5 of TROLLEY Project: Improved Image

and Patronage, Output 5.2.4 Local Trolley Guides. Final Report

Semantic profile of trolleys in Salzburg (Austria)

Source: K. Migał- Najman, K. Najman, M. Wołek: WP5 of TROLLEY Project: Improved Image

and Patronage, Output 5.2.4 Local Trolley Guides. Final Report

Semantic profile of trolleys in Szeged (Hungary)

Source: K. Migał- Najman, K. Najman, M. Wołek: WP5 of TROLLEY Project: Improved Image

and Patronage, Output 5.2.4 Local Trolley Guides. Final Report

Semantic profile of trolleys in Brno (Czech Rep.)

Source: K. Migdał- Najman, K. Najman, M. Wołek: WP5 of TROLLEY Project: Improved Image

and Patronage, Output 5.2.4 Local Trolley Guides. Final Report

Overall semantic profile of trolleys for six cities

Source: K. Migdał- Najman, K. Najman, M. Wołek: WP5 of TROLLEY Project: Improved Image

and Patronage, Output 5.2.4 Local Trolley Guides. Final Report

Summary of semantic profiles

• Szeged - Eco-friendliness was preferred; also the importance of comfort

and speed was pointed out. Safety and fashion received neutral ratings.

• Gdynia - The respondents considered the aspects of eco-friendliness and

fashion, as very important. Comfort and speed were important.

• Eberswalde - The respondents preferred safety and eco-friendliness as

very important. The speed and fashion were important. Comfort received

neutral rating.

• Salzburg - Fashion, comfort, safety and eco-friendliness, were graded

highly, while the Speer of Ravel remained neutral.

• Parma, Brno - Both cities have very similar characteristics. Respondents

indicate eco-friendliness as very important and safety as important factor.

The other features were graded as neutral.

General summary

• trolleys need to be promoted stronger;

• they are better evaluated by current passengers than by general

urban audience;

• their image is sometimes affected by older times when they

were not as modern as nowadays;

• trolleys might play crucial role in developing modern image of

public transport (Salzburg, Gdynia) supported by other

innovative solutions

Katedra Rynku Transportowego