(1) Background

Deregulation of public transport in the 1980’s meant that bus services were no longer monopolised by local councils. Municipal bus fleets were privatised and competitors were allowed to enter the market. The idea was to stimulate efficiency, reduce costs, and improve the quality of service. However the old council bus fleets had operated subsidised rural services for social reasons. The new competitors were keen to operate in urban centres, often contributing to traffic jams by the sheer number of buses, but were reluctant to supply adequate services in rural areas where population density is much lower and average journey distances much longer.

I chose to investigate the bus service between my village and the nearby town of Airdrie. Slamannan has a population of 1,393, 64% of whom are of working age.

Figure 1: population by age group

However there is very little employment in the village, which owed its 19th century prosperity (1881 population 6,000) to now defunct coal mines. There are two small grocers but no large stores. There is a primary school but no secondary school. There is a public house but no other places of entertainment. Therefore large numbers of the population need to travel to the nearby towns for a variety of reasons. Census figures suggest that 159 Slamannan residents travel to work or school by bus and 422 by private vehicle.

Figure 2: population by socio-economic group

Slamannan is significantly bottom weighted in terms of socio-economic groups compared to its locality.

(2) Primary information

Few Slamannan residents use taxis except when returning from an evening out. My survey revealed a slightly lower than average rate of car ownership as well as a higher than average rate of unemployment.

(268 words - a few too many, but it is important that diagrams should not just be left to speak for themselves - for example section 3 below has very useful data but the examiner could not tell that the author understood it - he might simply have copied it from the census at http://www.falkirk.gov.uk/ccs/ppreview/research_and_information/settlement_profiles/slamannan.htm which is actually the real source of this information. You will find similar pages for your area usually if you type "Yourareaname population" into Google. No, seriously, do not literally type this, type the actual name of your area!)

(3) Comparisons with surrounding area

Figure 3 – comparative car ownership

You see, what the author should be pointing out here is that Slamannan has a higher than average rate of single car ownership because of its rural location, but a lower than average rate of multiple car ownership because of its relative lack of affluence. A quick tour of the streets would also tell you if the average age of the cars was greater than in Falkirk. Old cars can be unreliable and may force owners to use buses as a back up.

Figure 4: comparative employment

Now here we should be pointing out that Slamannan has less employment and more unemployment than the surrounding area. There are not enough local jobs and people need to travel to their work, but they can't if they don't have transport. A slightly higher than normal percentage respond by starting their own businesses, but it is harder for Slamannan women to work part time because of the lack of second cars in families.