Public transport issues are most usefully considered within the context of overall policies and strategies.

The role of public transport needs to be clearly defined to ensure that services are planned and designed appropriately.  For example, public transport may be needed to: provide for those without access to a car, provide an alternative to car travel, or for wider economic, social and environmental reasons. 

Public Transport Planning

Public transport planning involves forecasting patronage and estimating associated  service requirements, including: 

Ø Estimation of future patronage demand (with and without service changes)
Ø Predicting the implications of fare policy options on patronage and revenue.
Ø Establishing the need for supporting measures or infrastructure. 
Ø Planning overall network capacity, accessibility and service quality requirements

Operational Design

Operational design is undertaken within the context of public transport planning and involves:

Ø Defining the detailed role of bus and rail modes
Ø Optimising service networks (in terms of routes, frequencies and interchange facilities)
Ø Delivering reliability and user information.
Ø Achieving value for money

Supporting Techniques

In many cases, modelling of some sort will be required when public transport issues are considered, and this could involve:  

Ø 4 stage transport models (such as EMME, CUBE, TRACKS)
Ø Public transport assignment models (such as EMME, TPSchedule)
Ø Cost benefit analysis software.