Monitoring and evaluation

Monitoring helps you check whether your transport service is working well and meeting local needs. It also provides evidence for funding applications, supports service improvements, and helps demonstrate impact to stakeholders.

Community Transport Association (CTA) recommends developing a monitoring and evaluation framework before your service begins. This helps clarify what data to collect, how to collect it, and how it will be used.

Types of monitoring

Routine monitoring

Track key operational data such as:

• passenger numbers
• income and expenditure
• volunteer hours and activity
• vehicle usage and reliability

This data supports planning, funding bids, and reporting to partners or funders.

Passenger feedback

Collect compliments, complaints, and suggestions regularly. This helps you understand what’s working and what could be improved.

• use comment cards, online forms, or verbal feedback
• encourage drivers to pass on feedback they hear directly
• consider anonymous options to encourage honesty

User consultations

Use surveys, interviews, or forums to explore specific issues. This is helpful if you need a deeper understanding of:

• why the service is underused
• how it could be improved
• what barriers users face

CTA suggests using feedback to co-design improvements with users and volunteers.

Continuous improvement

Asking for feedback regularly is important. If local needs change, your service should change too. Monitoring helps you:

• respond to emerging needs
• adjust routes, timings, or booking processes
• improve accessibility and inclusion
• strengthen your case for funding or partnership support

Tools and templates

Consider using:

• a monthly monitoring form for passenger and financial data
• a feedback log to record compliments and complaints
• a survey template for user consultations

These can be adapted from CTA’s Advice Resources or developed with support from your local CVS.