7.2.1 Primary Data Results

Primary data was collected using online surveys. This survey was aimed at people who live in Leeds. The aim of this survey was to:

Understand the public perception of the current public transport network in Leeds; Understand how and why people use the existing public transport system in Leeds; Understand why people don’t use it; Understand how well the current public transport system services Leeds; Determine the public desire for the construction of a tram network in Leeds.

Individuals who have worked on lobbying for, or researched the proposals for, a tram network in Leeds were contacted for questioning with the aim of answering the following research objectives:

O5 To discuss the potential benefits of the implementation of tram services in other UK cities - such as Leeds.

And research question:

Q3 What economic benefits does the study suppose that constructing a tram system in Leeds, England would have?

The online survey designed in order to gain primary research on Leeds gained

106 responses. The survey initially received a very low number of responses.

Reacting to this, as set out in the contingency plan, the survey was kept online

for a longer period of time and shared across more social media platforms to

increase the amount of responses. At the time, government guidelines

surrounding Covid-19 did not permit for face to face surveys to take place.

The respondents postcodes are mapped out on figure 34. This shows that the

data has been collected across a wide distribution across the city. However, it

should be noted that there are several areas that are unaccounted for. If the

data collection were to be repeated, efforts would be focussed on collecting

data from these areas. However, as this research focusses mainly on

Manchester and Sheffield, the lower number of responses for this survey is

sufficient for this investigation.

MAP SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENT'S POSTCODES MAP SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS POSTCODES

High number of responses

Figure 34: (Author’s own)

Leeds City Centre

Low number of responses

Powered by Bing © TomTom

1%

7%

Male Prefer not to say Female 16-24 55-64

WHAT GENDER DO YOU IDENTIFY 3%

3%

29% AS? 70%

14%

9%

25-34 64+ 35-44

HOW OLD ARE YOU?

Figure 35 Figure 36 45-54

64%

Figure 35 shows the gender divide of respondents from Leeds to be 70%

female, 29% male and 1% choosing not to say. Figure 36 shows that 64% of

respondents were aged 16-24. The remaining age ranges all received a much

smaller representation. Therefore, the conclusion can be drawn that the data

collected for the Leeds online survey is not representative of the city’s

demographic. According to the 2011 census, the gender divide in Leeds was

49% male, 51% female and the age divide was 16% aged 14-24 and 84% for

the remaining ages (Leeds Observatory, 2019).

Commuting to work Visiting friends/family Running errands Leisure Traveling to a place of education I dont use public transport

6%

3%

15%

15%

PRIMARY PURPOSE FOR USING PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Figure 37 29% 9%

11%

6%

32% 21%

Figure 38 SECONDARY PURPOSE FOR USING PUBLIC TRANSPORT 9%

44%

Figures 37 and 38 aim to show the key reasons for the respondents using

public transport in Leeds. This data is evidence that leisure is both the

respondents’ primary and secondary reason for using public transport. Second

to this was commuting to work, with visiting family and friends being the

second most popular secondary reason. The remaining factors all received a

low proportion of responses. This follows a similar theme to primary purposes

in Manchester and Sheffield. However, the secondary purposes for these two

cities received much more sporadic responses and therefore, are dissimilar to

Leeds.

18%

Rarely Once a week Every day Once a month 2-3 times a week

20%

HOW OFTEN DO YOU USE PUBLIC TRANSPORT? 32%

Figure 39 15%

15%

Figure 39 shows how often people in Leeds use public transport. All categories

received a similar number of responses, ranging from 15-20%, besides ‘2 to 3

times a week’ which had 32% of responses. Therefore, approximately one third

of the sample population from Leeds use public transport ‘2-3 times a week’.

Yes No Yes No

18%

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE A TRAM SERVICE BUILT IN LEEEDS?

Figure 40 67%

82%

Figure 41

ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE CURRENT PUBLIC TRANSPORT PROVISION IN LEEDS? 33%

Figure 40 and 41 aim to determine the public desire for a tram system in Leeds

and the public perception of the current transport system. Figure 40 shows that

a large proportion of Leeds residents, 82%, would like to see a tram service

built in the city. Furthermore, figure 41 shows that a much smaller proportion of

the Leeds respondents are happy with the current public transport provision in

the city, when compared to responses received from Manchester and Sheffield.

67% of respondents in Leeds stated that they were not happy with the current

services.

When asked why they are not happy with the current public transport provision

in Leeds, respondents stated the city is “bus-centric and that buses are often

sat in congestion meaning that it takes people an extremely long period of

time to travel". Many said that they walk, as it is quicker than getting a bus in

the congested city centre. Respondents also stated that suburban areas are not

easily accessible by bus and that bus services are unreliable, expensive and

inadequate. Buses in Leeds are often full due to low capacity and it becomes

expensive to travel across the city when routes are operated by different

companies. Furthermore, respondents stated the existing public transport

system in Leeds is dated compared to other cities and that the building of a

tram network in Leeds would provide the city with a much more efficient mass

transport system and would better connect the suburbs to the city centre.

Train

Cycle

Taxi

Walk

Bus

Private Car

Figure 42 WHAT FORM OF TRANSPORT DO YOU USE TO TRAVEL AROUND LEEDS?

33

18%

9

42

40 54 62

Yes No

DO YOU BELIEVE BUILDING TRAMS WOULD HAVE A POSITIVE ECONOMIC IMPACT IN LEEDS?

Figure 43 82%

Figure 42 aims to show how people move around Leeds. It can be seen that

people walk as their main form of transport. An educated assumption can be

made that this is in the city centre and not between suburbs and the city

centre. The main form of public transport used is the bus, followed by taxi,

private car and the train. Similarly to Manchester and Sheffield, a very small

proportion of respondents cycle. Figure 43 shows whether people in Leeds

believe that a tram network in Leeds would positively impact the economy,

with 82% believing yes. This is in line with figures 40 and 41 which show a large

proportion of respondents want to see a tram network built in Leeds as they

are not happy with the current public transport provision.

When asked why they believe establishing a tram network in Leeds would have

a positive economic impact, respondents stated it would efficiently connect

suburbs to the city centre and that trams would be a more environmentally

friendly, sustainable form of public transport. Furthermore, it was stated that

levels of congestion would be reduced in the city and that it would enhance

people’s productivity at work due to spending less time commuting.

Respondents also stated that there would be enhanced connectivity between

businesses and that further investment would be generated from revenue. It

was also said that the impacts of building the tram network would make Leeds

a more attractive city for businesses to base themselves, generating more jobs

and further investment. Finally, respondents stated they would be more likely

to go shopping in the city centre if a tram system was built, due to quicker

journey times and not needing to pay for parking or get stuck in traffic.

Therefore, building trams in Leeds would positively impact the retail industry in

the city.