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.     

The impact of a new rapid transit system on traffic on parallel highway facilities

This study analyzes data of traffic crossing San Francisco Bay and passing through the Berkeley Hills via Caldecott Tunnel to determine the effect of the opening in 1974 of the Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART) transbay line. There was a sudden shift in trend lines in 1974; vehicle volumes dropped, transit patronage jumped, but total person trips in the short run followed roughly the trends of the previous eight years. Since 1974, the growth rate in person trips through the Berkeley Hills appears to have remained about the same, while transbay vehicle and transit traffic have increased at a more rapid rate. The increase in transit patronage is particularly noticeable between the morning and afternoon peaks and probably represents new trips by shoppers and sightseers. Whereas other factors, such as the increase in the price of gasoline between October 1973 and July 1974 may have contributed a little to the sudden change in the long‐range trends in 1974, it is believed that the major cause was the opening of the BART network to transbay travel.

     

Investigating the effect of travel time variability on drivers' route choice decisions in Shanghai,China

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of travel time variability on drivers' route choice behavior in the context of Shanghai, China. A stated preference survey is conducted to collect drivers' hypothetical choice between two alternative routes with designated unequal travel time and travel time variability. A binary choice model is developed to quantify trade-offs between travel time and travel time variability across various types of drivers. In the model, travel time and travel time variability are, respectively, measured by expectation and standard deviation of random travel time. The model shows that travel time and travel time variability on a route exert similarly negative effects on drivers' route choice behavior. In particular, it is found that middle-age drivers are more sensitive to travel time variability and less likely to choose a route with travel time uncertainty than younger and elder drivers. In addition, it is shown that taxi drivers are more sensitive to travel time and more inclined to choose a route with less travel time. Drivers with rich driving experience are less likely to choose a route with travel time uncertainty.     

The impact of urban rail transit on commercial property value: New evidence from Wuhan,China

The interaction between rail transit and the urban property market is a vital foundation for planning transit-based policy such as Value Capture and Transit Oriented Development (TOD). Yet only few studies have reported the impact of transit access on commercial property value. This paper presents empirical evidence from Wuhan, China, to enrich the knowledge in the subject area. Spatial autoregressive models were employed to estimate the commercial value capture, based on 676 observations along Wuhan’s metro rail line through the main business districts. Value appreciation was discovered within the 400 m radius of road network distance from Metro stations. The transit access premiums present as two tiers: 16.7% for the 0–100 m core area and approximately 8.0% within the 100–400 m radius. The result demonstrates the potential benefit of adopting value capture and optimising TOD planning to support sustainable urban rail transit investment. Amid rapid urbanisation in China, the evidence reported here could help better inform cities, across the developing world and beyond, of the benefits of adopting rail transit-based policy.     

Water transit and excess travel: discrete choice modelling of bus and ferry trips in Brisbane,Australia

Recent investment in urban ferry transport has created interest in what value such systems provide in a public transport network. In some cases, ferry services are in direct competition with other land-based transport, and despite often longer travel times passengers still choose water transport. This paper seeks to identify a premium attached to urban water transit through an identification of excess travel patterns. A one-month sample of smart card transaction data for Brisbane, Australia, was used to compare bus and ferry origin–destination pairs between a selected suburban location and the central business district. Logistic regression of the data found that ferry travel tended towards longer travel times (OR?=?2.282), suggesting passengers do derive positive utility from ferry journeys. The research suggests the further need to incorporate non-traditional measures other than travel time for deciding the value of water transit systems.     

The evaluation of high occupancy vehicle lanes on sun yat‐sen freeway in Taiwan

This study proposes a methodological framework to incorporate latent factors, including direct and indirect perceptions, as the explanatory variables in a discrete choice models using revealed preference and stated preference data sets. The methodology requires the estimation of a model system comprising of a discrete choice model and the structural and measurement equations of a latent variable model. The application involves the evaluation of responses to the new high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on the Sun Yat‐Sen Freeway in Taiwan. The results obtained from this study provide valuable insights into the planning and assessment of HOV lanes.     

The impact of urban form on automobile travel: disentangling causation from correlation

A longstanding question within the field of transportation demand management is the strength of the relationship between urban form and mobility behavior. Although several studies have identified a strong correlation between these variables, there is as yet scant evidence to support policy interventions that target land use as a means of influencing travel. To the contrary, some of the more recent research has cast skepticism on the proposition that the relationship is causative, recognizing the possibility that households endogenously self-select themselves into communities that support their preferences for particular transportation modes. Focusing on individual automobile travel, the present study seeks to contribute to this line of inquiry by estimating econometric models on a panel of travel-diary data collected in Germany between 1996 and 2003. Specifically, we employ the two-part model (2PM)—a procedure involving probit and OLS estimators—to assess the determinants of the discrete decision to use the car and the continuous decision of distance traveled. Beyond modeling variables that capture the urban form features that are commonly suggested to influence mobility behavior, including mixed use and public transit, this study employs instrumental variables to control for potential endogeneity emerging from the simultaneity of residential and mode choices. Unlike much of the work to date, our results suggest that urban form has a causative impact on car use, a finding that is robust to alternative econometric specifications.

Information impact on quality of multimodal travel choices: conceptualizations and empirical analyses

This paper investigates the impact of a variety of travel information types on the quality of travel choices. Choice quality is measured by comparing observed choices made under conditions of incomplete knowledge with predicted choice probabilities under complete knowledge. Furthermore, the potential impact of travel information is considered along multiple attribute-dimensions of alternatives, rather than in terms of travel time reductions only. Data is obtained from a choice experiment in a multimodal travel simulator in combination with a web-based mode-choice experiment. A Structural Equation Model is estimated to test a series of hypothesized direct and indirect relations between a traveler’s knowledge levels, information acquisition behavior and the resulting travel-choice quality. The estimation results support the hypothesized relations, which provides evidence of validity and applicability of the developed measure of travel-choice quality. Furthermore, found relations in general provide some careful support for the often expected impact of information on the quality of travel choices. The effects are largest for information services that generate previously unknown alternatives, and lowest for services that provide warnings in case of high travel times only.

Evolution of latent modal captivity and mode choice patterns for commuting trips: A longitudinal analysis using repeated cross-sectional datasets

This paper presents an investigation of the temporal evolution of commuting mode choice preference structures. It contributes to two specific modelling issues: latent modal captivity and working with multiple repeated crossectional datasets. In this paper latent modal captivity refers to captive reliance on a specific mode rather than all feasible modes. Three household travel survey datasets collected in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) over a ten-year time period are used for empirical modelling. Datasets collected in different years are pooled and separate year-specific scale parameters and coefficients of key variables are estimated for different years. The empirical model clearly explains that there have been significant changes in latent modal captivity and the mode choice preference structures for commuting in the GTHA. Changes have occurred in the unexplained component of latent captivities, in transportation cost perceptions, and in the scales of commuting mode choice preferences. The empirical model also demonstrates that pooling multiple repeated cross-sectional datasets is an efficient way of capturing behavioural changes over time. Application of the proposed mode choice model for practical policy analysis and forecasting will ensure accurate forecasting and an enhanced understanding of policy impacts.     

Impact of information intervention on travel mode choice of urban residents with different goal frames: A controlled trial in Xuzhou,China

In order to assess the degree to which specific groups will adapt their travel behaviors after certain intervention, this study utilized a cluster analysis to discuss three segments’ distinct goal frames, social-demographic properties, travel modes, and habitat, and then carried out an information intervention controlled trial to discover three segments’ modal split shifts. The results indicate that the information have consistent and distinct impacts on travel mode choice by clusters. This consistency is embodied in the simultaneous and significant increase in travel times by green modes (walking, non-powered bicycle, or bus) and in the small but non-significant effects on reducing car use in the three clusters. The distinctness of the impacts is that information have a more effective influence on subjects with gain goal frames because their travel times by all three green modes greatly improved. Subjects with the hedonic goal frame are the least sensitive to information, with the only significant increase in travel times being by non-powered bicycle. This research also addressed the “attitude-behavior gap”, weather impacts, and goal-oriented prompts. The findings suggest that policy interventions should be designed to improve public transit features, especially the bicycle system, rather than only to constrain car use, and that tailored policies should be targeted to specific groups with different goal frames.     

The impact of transit station areas on the travel behaviors of workers in Denver,Colorado

Transit development is one planning strategy that seeks to partially overcome limitations of low-density single use car oriented development styles. While many studies focus on how residential proximity to transit influences the travel behaviors of individuals, the effect of workplace proximity to transit is less understood. This paper asks, does working near a light rail transit station influence the travel behaviors of workers differently than workers living near a station? We begin by examining workers’ commute mode based on their residential and workplace proximity to transit station areas. Next, we analyze the ways in which personal travel behaviors differ between those who drive to work and those who do not. The data came from a 2009 travel behavior survey in the Denver, Colorado metropolitan area, which contains 8000 households, 16,000 individuals, and nearly 80,000 trips. We measure sustainable travel behaviors as reduced mileage, reduced number of trips, and increased use of non-car transportation. The results of this study indicate that living near a transit station area by itself does not increase the likelihood of using non-car modes for work commutes. But if the destination (work) is near a transit station area, persons are less likely to drive a car to work. People who both live and work in a transit station area are less likely to use a car and more likely to take non-car modes for both work and non-work (personal) trips. Especially for persons who work near a transit station area, the measures of personal trips and distances show a higher level of mobility for non-car commuters than car commuters – that is, more trips and more distant trips. The use of non-car modes for personal trips is most likely to occur by non-car commuters, regardless of their transit station area relationship.     

The impact of transportation demand management policies on commuting to college facilities: A case study at the University of Trieste,Italy

Universities, like other types of public and private institutions, when located in a city, have both positive and negative impacts on the area where they are situated. On the one hand, they contribute to the prestige of the area; on the other hand, they are large generators/attractors of traffic. The ability to successfully balance the pros and cons of the urban location of these large traffic-generating institutions is crucial for their success and for the livability of the city. In this paper this issue has been analyzed selecting as a representative case the University of Trieste.The aim of the research is to understand: (a) how mode choice decisions are made by the teaching and administrative staff and by the students at the various locations where academic activities take place, and (b) how they would be affected by 8 different transport management policies. It is found that changing the parking regulations (via the annual permit cost, the hourly parking fee, the number of parking spaces and the location of the parking lots) greatly influences mode choice in favor of bus use, especially for teaching and administrative staff and in the suburban locations. The students would be impacted by such changes only if an hourly parking tariff is introduced. The alternative approach of fully subsidizing the bus services would also have a large impact on bus ridership, affecting the mode choice in particular of the teaching staff and in the main university suburban sites.Since the implementation of these bus-favoring policies could face the opposition either of the university staff or of the bus company, two more balanced policy mixes were tested: the first one, increasing parking price and imposing new parking restrictions, would increase bus ridership by 19%; the second one, reducing both bus and parking subsidies, would increase bus ridership by 13%.     

The influence of individuals’ environmental attitudes and urban design features on their travel patterns in sustainable neighborhoods in the UK

This paper explores the influence of individuals’ environmental attitudes and urban design features on travel behavior, including mode choice. It uses data from residents of 13 new neighborhood UK developments designed to support sustainable travel. It is found that almost all respondents were concerned about environmental issues, but their views did not necessarily ‘match’ their travel behavior. Individuals’ environmental concerns only had a strong relationship with walking within and near their neighborhood, but not with cycling or public transport use. Residents’ car availability reduced public transport trips, walking and cycling. The influence of urban design features on travel behaviors was mixed, higher incidences of walking in denser, mixed and more permeable developments were not found and nor did residents own fewer cars than the population as a whole. Residents did, however, make more sustainable commuting trips than the population in general. Sustainable modes of travel were related to urban design features including secured bike storage, high connectivity of the neighborhoods to the nearby area, natural surveillance, high quality public realm and traffic calming. Likewise the provision of facilities within and nearby the development encouraged high levels of walking.     

The effects of activity-travel context and individual attitudes on car-sharing decisions under travel time uncertainty: A hybrid choice modeling approach

People’s daily decision to use car-sharing rather than other transport modes for conducting a specific activity has been investigated recently in assessing the market potential of car-sharing systems. Most studies have estimated transport mode choice models with an extended choice set using attributes such as average travel time and costs. However, car-sharing systems have some distinctive features: users have to reserve a car in advance and pay time-based costs for using the car. Therefore, the effects of activity-travel context and travel time uncertainty require further consideration in models that predict car-sharing demand. Moreover, the relationships between individual latent attitudes and the intention to use car-sharing have not yet been investigated in much detail. In contributing to the research on car-sharing, the present study is designed to examine the effects of activity-travel context and individual latent attitudes on short-term car-sharing decisions under travel time uncertainty. The effects of all these factors were simultaneously estimated using a hybrid choice modeling framework. The data used in this study was collected in the Netherlands, 2015 using a stated choice experiment. Hypothetical choice situations were designed to collect respondents’ intention to use a shared-car for their travel to work. A total of 791 respondents completed the experiment. The estimation results suggest that time constraints, lack of spontaneity and a larger variation in travel times have significant negative effects on people’s intention to use a shared-car. Furthermore, this intention is significantly associated with latent attitudes about pro-environmental preferences, the symbolic value of cars, and privacy-seeking.     

The impact of outcome framing and psychological distance of air pollution consequences on transportation mode choice

Recent years, air pollution phenomenon has become one of the crucial problems of Tehran, Iran. Due to main political and economic role of Tehran, population of this metropolis is high and increasing. Urban transportation of this highly populated city contributes more than 70% of air pollution problem in this city. Although a number of urban transport developments, policy measures and regulations have been employed, Tehran’s air pollution has remained crucial thus far. Finding ways to encourage individuals to behave more sustainable can be considered as a substantial approach of tackling environmental problems such as air pollution, since it can be highly cost-effective and fast. This research attempt to evaluate the impacts of two factors of outcome framing and psychological distance of air pollution on citizen’s willingness to behave environmental friendly, particularly to change the travel mode choice. Results illustrate that communicating the consequences of air pollution can provoke individuals’ to act more environment friendly or in particular to change their intention for using more sustainable mode of transportation. Framing the positive consequences of mitigating air pollution take precedence over framing the negative consequences. Moreover the gains of mitigating air pollution have an impact on the willingness to use of bicycle and bus. Results also show that decreasing the psychological distance of air pollution in order to make manipulated frame more personally relevant has no significant impact on respondents.