How to Capture the Passengers’ Point of View on a Transit Service through Rating and Choice Options

Abstract

In this paper, a methodology for capturing the transit passenger’s point of view by using both rating and choice options is proposed. For this purpose, some discrete choice logit models are introduced; the models allow the probability of choice of some alternative transit services to be calculated, and the importance of each service aspect to be determined. The models are calibrated by using data collected by a survey in which a stated preferences experiment was proposed to a sample of passengers, and some judgements were expressed by them about their transit services, in terms of perceptions and expectations. The introduced methodology provides a relevant contribution from a practical viewpoint because it allows the identification of the most important aspects on overall service quality; it is useful to the transit operators for measuring service quality and for investing on the various service aspects in order to effectively improve transit services.     

Investigating the market for inter-modal freight technologies

Freight carried by rail has traditionally been mainly low value bulk commodities. The market for transport of such commodities appears at best static and is forming a smaller proportion of the total demand for freight transport. There is thus an urgent need for rail operators to develop practical and cost effective inter-modal systems, which offer high quality services to consignors of consumer goods whose premises are not usually connected to the rail network. Much long-haul traffic of this type is international. In continental Europe, a number of inter-modal technologies—including swapbodies and piggyback—have long been in use. Development of similar technologies for use within the more constrained loading gauge of Great Britain, has received a great boost from the impending opening of the Channel Tunnel. The alternative technologies are discussed, before turning to ways of stimating the market for them. A large part of the paper is devoted to reporting on a computerised survey using our LASP (Leeds Adaptive Stated Preference) technique. The reason for using hypothetical Stated Preference data is the inadequate nature and extent of data on actual choice decisions, particularly in circumstances in which confidential freight rates are individually negotiated and little general merchandise goes by rail. By bringing together the results of this survey with information on costs and quality of service, the likely future market for inter-modal freight technologies is assessed. It is seen that the potential for inter-modal services within Britain is very limited, although there should be a good opportunity on the major corridor from London to Scotland through the West Midlands and the North West. When the Channel Tunnel is opened, however, the potential for services between Britain and continental Europe will be enormous, provided that an adequate quality of service can be offered.     

Preference heterogeneity in mode choice based on a nationwide survey with a focus on urban rail

The provision of efficient and effective urban public transport and transport policy requires a deep understanding of the factors influencing urban travellers’ choice of travel mode. The majority of existing literature reports on the results from single cities. This study presents the results of a nationwide travel survey implemented to examine multiple modes of urban passenger transport across five mainland state capitals in Australia, with a focus of urban rail. The study aims to explore differences in mode choices among surveyed travellers sampled from the five cities by accounting for two types of factors: service quality and features of public transport, and socio demographic characteristics. A stated preference approach is adopted to elicit people’s valuation of specified mode-choice related factors and their willingness to pay. In particular, the availabilities of wireless and laptop stations – two factors rarely examined in the literature, were also considered in the SP survey. The survey data were analysed using mixed logit models. To test for preference heterogeneity, socio-demographic factors were interacted with random parameters, and their influences on marginal utilities simulated. The analysis reveals that intercity differences, user group status, gender, income, and trip purposes partially explain observed preference heterogeneity.     

Performance assessment of transport services with the ERM-NDEA model: evidence from a domestic airline in Taiwan

Abstract

This paper estimates comprehensive operational performance measures for transport services. A network efficiency approach is used to analyze the production efficiency, service efficiency, and operational efficiency in a unified framework to reflect the transportation service characteristics of airline operations. We show how a modified version of the network data envelopment analysis model can be utilized for evaluating the performance of air route operations. This study considers 15 air routes operated by a domestic airline in Taiwan to highlight the value of the approach. The results of the analysis show the inputs and consumed outputs leading to production inefficiency and service inefficiency respectively as well as the magnitudes of excesses and shortfalls.     

The role of paratransit: some reflections based on the experience of residents’ coach services in Hong Kong

Paratransit refers to urban transport services “somewhere between private passenger transport and conventional public transport in terms of cost and quality of service” [Rimmer (1980), Paratransit: A commentary. Environ. Plan. A 12, 937–944]. Since the 1980s, a new form of paratransit—residents’ coach, which provides exclusive transport services to residents living in private housing estates—has emerged in Hong Kong. What was the background underlying the emergence and subsequent growth of residents’ coach services? Also, what was the role of residents’ coach in the public transport system of Hong Kong? With the completion of more railway extensions, should residents’ coach services be replaced? If so, what are the potential impacts on people’s life? This paper addresses the above research questions through a large-scale questionnaire survey that examined not only people’s modal choice but also their residential choice, socio-economic background and attitudes. The findings suggest that transport policy makers should pay more attention to examine new forms of paratransit and the ways of integrating them into the overall public transport system, both spatially and temporally. It is only through the development of an efficient and multi-modal transport system can the maximum potential of paratransit in filling the transport gap between conventional mass transit and private cars be realized.     

A Stated Preference Experiment for Measuring Service Quality in Public Transport

Abstract

This paper develops a Stated Preference (SP) experiment that provides a way to measure service quality in public transport. The paper introduces an empirical procedure for optimising the SP experiment. This procedure permits the identification of the choice alternatives defining the experiment by simulating the choices of a user sample. By using the data collected from an experimental survey, a Multinomial Logit model was calibrated. This model is a way of identifying the importance of service quality attributes on global customer satisfaction and calculating a Service Quality Index, which provides an operationally appealing measure of current or potential service effectiveness.     

A scenario approach to airport evaluation in remote communities: with particular reference to the Pilbara region of Australia

Coordinated development of aviation facilities and services is critical for geographically remote communities. Improvements in aviation capability can be assisted by an analytical base for determining the implications of alternative configurations of air services in terms of links to be served, airport/aerodrome investment, type of flight equipment and flight frequency. We outline a method for identifying airport supply configurations to meet air service demand to and from the Pilbara region of north-west Australia. The approach emphasises minimum levels of demand required from a community in order to justify provision of air services of a given scenario. The method is influenced by the paucity of data on demand in remote communities, and the consequent risk of relying solely on demand-side forecasts of patronage levels. It is therefore particularly useful in assessing transport systems associated with remote resource development projects which are notable for the rapidity of change which they can bring. The approach has relevance to a wide range of transport applications.     

Organization and planning of ambulance transport services in England and Wales

The ambulance service is the largest special needs transport operator in England and Wales and an important pillar of support to the National Health Service. In the last decade its size and role as a transport agency have been the subject of at least two government‐inspired reviews which have questioned the efficiency of the ambulance service and examined in some detail its operational performance. The ambulance service also faces constraints on its funding, like the rest of the health service, which raises questions as to its ability in the future to meet all patient demands for transport, especially in the area of non‐emergency outpatient services. The organization of the ambulance service is described from a number of perspectives: historical, institutional and managerial. These suggest that changes occurring in the approach to health care and management which are based on assumptions of cost‐effectiveness and competition, will likewise affect the organization and provision of patient transport services. The ambulance service may become an even more specialist operator competing or co‐operating in certain areas of work with other transport agencies especially in the area of non‐emergency outpatient services. Scenarios are outlined on how this may be achieved and the likely implications for the delivery of health care.     

Estimating the demand for urban bus travel

The disadvantages of conventional transportation study models, in particular their large data requirements and their weaknesses in dealing with changes in trip generation rates have led to a need for a simple model that can quickly and at low cost examine alternative public transport strategies.This paper investigates simple economic models of bus demand, examines alternative variables that can be used and discusses some alternative model forms. It demonstrates the results of a model using data from twelve urban bus operators in Britain and compares the results with those from other types of study. The model utilises fare and service quality elasticities to explain the decline in passengers on urban bus services, and derives an average elasticity with respect to fare changes of –0.31 and with respect to service quality changes of +0.62. It is estimated that fare rises accounted for 13% of the 43% decline in passengers over the last fifteen years, vehicle mileage reductions for 14.3% and that only 15.7% was due to such factors as rising car ownership which are often given as the cause of declining bus patronage.The results, by showing that passengers are far more sensitive to changes in service than they are to fare rises, are a useful guide to the broader public transport policy issues, and the paper concludes that the model does provide a useful method of forecasting public transport demand at a strategic level. Further work is needed, however, to establish more accurate forecasts for different types of passenger and studies are now being undertaken to establish these and to construct an operational forecasting model that can be applied with only limited data requirements     

Development of location-based services for recommending departure stations to park and ride users

More and more commuters are beginning to favour public transportation. Fast and convenient park and ride (PnR) services provided by public transportation authorities are the result of changes of household demographics and household, increasing fuel prices and a focus on environmental sustainability. However, lack of parking spaces in PnR facilities creates a major bottleneck to this service. The aim of this research is to develop a location-based service (LBS) application to help PnR users choose the best train station to use to reach their destination using a multicriteria decision making model. A fuzzy logic method is used to estimate parking availability when a user is estimated to arrive at a PnR facility. Two surveys are conducted to collect traffic flow, travel behaviour and service quality data at four selected Perth Western Australia train stations. With the proposed approach and survey data, a prototype of LBS application, Station Finder, was developed using the Android SDK 4.0 and Google API 16. This application is a useful and practical tool to save travel cost and time of PnR users’.     

Methodology to determine service delivery levels for public transportation

When designing transit services, the Level-of-Service concept has been widely used by transport planners and service providers to assess the service quality of an existing transit system. In addition to the service quality assessment, service providers also need to estimate the service levels that will satisfy a maximum number of users and potential users, across all socio-economic groups, so as to maximize patronage. This paper demonstrates a method using the concept of ‘user satisfaction levels’ and their ‘zone of tolerance’, along with total utility and marginal utility for service providers, to provide a range of service delivery levels for individual transit service attributes in the city of Kolkata. This range of service levels provides a guideline for service providers within which they can consider making an improvement in service level. However, the final decision on service improvement is an outcome of both financial and infrastructural feasibility.     

The limits of analyzing service quality data in public transport

In recent years, management and academics have increasingly focused on quality management in public transport. In particular, many public transport operators regularly monitor their service quality over time and use these data to assess quality performance (e.g., for performance-based quality contracts) and to determine managerial decisions (e.g., budget allocations for service improvements). However, despite the widespread applications of service quality data in practice, it is unclear whether cross-sectional analyses and cross-temporal comparisons of service quality data provide valid insights for quality management purposes. In this study, we investigate the usability of cross-sectional analyses and cross-temporal comparisons of service quality data by conducting an empirical study that tracked a panel’s perceptions of the service quality of public transport and its choice over the course of three consecutive years. The results demonstrate that cross-sectional analyses provide valid insights for quality management. However, cross-temporal comparisons should be interpreted carefully because the results of these comparisons are surprisingly unreliable. In fact, we find that service quality data do not provide reliable results over time and therefore conclude that cross-temporal comparisons of service quality data must be interpreted with caution for quality management in public transport.     

Market mechanism design for profitable on-demand transport services

On-demand transport services in the form of dial-a-ride and taxis are crucial parts of the transport infrastructure in all major cities. However, not all on-demand transport services are equal: not-for-profit dial-a-ride services with coordinated drivers significantly differ from profit-motivated taxi services with uncoordinated drivers. In fact, there are two key threads of work on efficient scheduling, routing, and pricing for passengers: dial-a-ride services; and taxi services. Unfortunately, there has been only limited development of algorithms for joint optimization of scheduling, routing, and pricing; largely due to the widespread assumption of fixed pricing. In this paper, we introduce another thread: profit-motivated on-demand transport services with coordinated drivers. To maximize provider profits and the efficiency of the service, we propose a new market mechanism for this new thread of on-demand transport services, where passengers negotiate with the service provider. In contrast to previous work, our mechanism jointly optimizes scheduling, routing, and pricing. Ultimately, we demonstrate that our approach can lead to higher profits and reduced passenger prices, compared with standard fixed price approaches, while also improving efficiency.     

High speed rail market projection: Survey design and analysis

This paper summarises work done to assess the market potential and likely financial performance of a planned high-speed rail link connecting Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, under a variety of scenarios concerning the services offered and the possible market responses of the competing transport modes in the corridor. In the Australian context, such a link has the characteristics of an essentially new transport mode since existing rail services are extremely poorly developed. The expectation was that generated demand could be a substantial part of the overall ridership. A programme of market research was commissioned by the private consortium considering the project, designed to support forecasting models capable of predicting both diverted and generated travel on the new service. A major survey of current travellers was conducted in 1988, followed by an extensive collection of stated preference evidence about the factors affecting the travel decisions of both existing travellers and those who had not recently made any journeys in the corridor. The paper focuses mainly on the design and organisation of the surveys, on the analysis approach, and on the methods used to generate forecasts for simulated populations and scenarios.     

Collecting longitudinal data from freight operators: survey design and implementation ideas and challenges

Freight transport research has generally been limited by a lack of data of the breadth and quality available for passenger transport, particularly in terms of behavioural data. This paper discusses the survey design and implementation of a survey intended to collect longitudinal behavioural data on the responses of freight transport firms to environmental policies. The design of the survey is centred around a hypothetical scenario where respondents are asked how they would complete a given freight task within common constraints. One of the key components of the survey design is a dynamic component intended to simulate the changing business environment. The paper illustrates the many challenges in getting complex freight related surveys in the field.     

Do the organizational forms affect passenger satisfaction? Evidence from Chinese public transport service

This paper presents a discussion on the relationship between organizational forms (including the ownership structure and the contractual practices) and passenger satisfaction of Chinese public transport service. To test this proposition, an original rich data set covering 4702 respondents and 58 public transport operators of 13 cities for the period 2013–2014 is used. We firstly estimate the passenger satisfaction based on customer satisfaction theory and PLS-SEM, and then take into consideration the mixed logit model to assess the effect between them. Conclusions drawn from the study are summarized as follows: ① The effect of organizational forms on the passenger satisfaction of public transport service is confirmed. ② Public transport services franchised to public ownership offer higher passenger satisfaction than those franchised to private ownership and mixed ownership. ③ Public transport services regulated by the management contracts incite more passenger satisfaction than those regulated by net cost contracts and gross cost contracts.     

Emissions of demand responsive services as an alternative to conventional transit systems

The environmental performance of public transport plays a key role in improving air quality in urban areas. An important way of improving existing transit services is to use innovative propulsive systems; however, this needs considerable financial resources that are not always available. Here we assess how the organizational form of the transit system may impact the environment relying on a new methodology that permits comparisons in terms of distance traveled between a traditional fixed-route and a demand responsive transit service. We apply an emission model to find the least polluting transit system under a broad range of scenarios with different road networks, service quality levels and demand densities. Results indicate that demand responsive transit services minimize emissions for high quality service level and low demand density scenarios. Furthermore, the possibility of employing smaller vans with lower emission factors guarantees additional substantial benefits in terms of atmospheric pollution for demand responsive transit services, thereby giving them a competitive advantage in virtually every case.     

Structural equation modeling of user satisfaction of bus transit service quality based on stated preferences and latent variables

Few studies have been conducted on the service quality (SQ) of bus transit in developing countries. This paper presents a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach to identifying the relationships among major attributes that affect the SQ of bus transit in the city of Dhaka in Bangladesh. Specifically, 22 bus transit SQ attributes, drawn from 655 questionnaires, are used to develop different SEM models for the city. Along with stated preferences, the effect of three latent variables on SQ is analyzed. Among the developed models, the best model is selected by using different statistical approaches. With the best model, selected attributes are rated according to their relative importance on SQ. Acknowledging limited resources of a developing nation, this study gives a clear way ahead to planners, operating companies and transport managers to design appropriate transport policies which will ensure more effective services to current bus users as well as attracting new passengers.     

Managing with declining resources

Urban public transport has had broad political appeal and escalating financial support since the late 1960s. The preference has been for public ownership and operation of services with only limited private sector involvement in the provision of services in a highly regulated environment. The financial standing of public transport coupled with the likelihood of a sustained period of fiscal restraint, perhaps even a decline in available resources, has created an imperative for change. This paper argues that broad‐based acknowledgment of the financial realities, clear definition of quantifiable objectives and increased authority and control for public transport management is required if public transport agencies are to meet the challenge. A new balance between service, ridership and revenue is required. Managing with declining resources will require a financial planning approach, separation of policy and planning from operations, removal of restrictions on user choice and operator competition and increased involvement of the private sector. Substantial changes in internal organization, procedures and structures and a cost‐effectiveness orientation will be necessary.     

Willingness to pay for improving service quality in a multimodal area

Travellers use the installations at multimodal areas to transfer from one mode of transport to another. In many cases these installations are called interchanges. This article characterises the users of transport interchanges to determine the fundamental attributes which they most value when they pass through the area. A Stated Choice survey is designed and administered and Mixed Logit models are estimated to calculate willingness to pay levels for three main attributes: transfer time, the quality of the available information and the services provided in the area. Travellers place most value on the quality of the information they receive and the available services rather than on transfer time, which contradicts the widely held opinion of experts in the field. This opens up new possibilities in the design of modern interchanges which should concentrate more on being welcoming areas with many information points rather than being based around minimising transfer times.