21st November 2001

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Dr Liz Fawcett, a lecturer in the School of Communication, will be outlining some of the results of a major survey which examined public attitudes in Northern Ireland on a range of issues, including transport. The survey was carried out by the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey team, and was a joint venture between the University of Ulster and Queen’s University.

More than two-fifths of rural respondents to the Northern Ireland survey said there were no nearby bus services to take them to local shops and other facilities. In stark contrast, government statistics show that just 12% of rural residents in Great Britain do not have a bus stop within walking distance of their home. At the same time, a quarter of the rural respondents to the Northern Ireland survey said they did not drive a car. Dr Fawcett says the findings make grim reading for politicians in Northern Ireland:

‘There does seem to be a tendency among rural politicians to assume that everyone in their constituencies wants more bypasses built. These findings suggest that a considerable proportion of people in rural areas don’t drive and a significant percentage don’t have any bus service close to hand.’

Dr Fawcett will be speaking at a seminar [at 12 noon] in Belfast organised by the Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive. She will also highlight the fact that a number of other socially excluded groups are disadvantaged by inadequate public transport provision:

‘The survey data shows clearly that you’re less likely to have access to a car or to drive if you’re in a lower social class category, if you’re a woman, or if you’re in either the oldest or youngest age groups. That means that all these groups rely more heavily on public transport. Yet, access to public transport appears to be poor throughout Northern Ireland - almost a quarter of all respondents said there were no nearby bus services to local shops and facilities. Again, this is much higher than the equivalent figure in Great Britain.
‘It’s clear that those who suffer social exclusion in many other ways also suffer discrimination through the inadequate provision of public transport in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Executive is committed to tacking all forms of social exclusion - one hopes that it will put improving public transport near the top of its agenda.’

The survey results also showed strong support among respondents for improving public transport - almost 90% of respondents said they considered this to be very important (57%) or fairly important (32%). There was less support for road-building; 61% of respondents felt that more motorways should be built to reduce traffic congestion. A similar proportion said it was important to reduce the number of cars on Northern Ireland’s roads.

For further information, please contact:

Press Office Department of Communication and Development
Telephone: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk