Critical Measures of Transit Service Quality in the Eyes of Older Travelers

2003 ◽  
Vol 1835 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon E. Burkhardt
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Consumer Satisfaction ◽  
Older Persons ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Transit Service ◽  
Focus Group Research ◽  
Near Term ◽  
The Individual

Older travelers use public transportation services for relatively few of their trips. Attracting additional older riders will require that transit operators pay more attention to the specific mobility preferences of older travelers. Focus group research generated measures of transit service quality. These measures rate factors that affect the relative levels of consumer satisfaction for older persons, who rate certain factors differently from other travelers. The travel attributes that were most highly valued by seniors in the focus groups are used to assess current travel modes and to suggest near-term and long-term improvement strategies for public transit operators. Public transit systems most likely to succeed in attracting older persons (and other riders as well) are expected to be those systems that offer the following: more choices in travel modes and their corresponding attributes, especially price; greater focus on higher-quality services; and greater degree of service articulation, in which travel services are more closely tailored to the specific travel needs of the individual traveler and a specific trip.

scholarly journals Analysis of Aerial Ropeways by following various Indian and International Codes for Urban Mobility with some Structural Modifications in Monocable Ropeways to make it Safe, Secure, Economical and all Weather Durable

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (VI) ◽  
pp. 1539-1548
Author(s):  
Bhat Omair Bashir
Keyword(s):  
Public Transportation ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Transportation Systems ◽  
Urban Transport ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Tourist Attractions ◽  
Structural Modifications ◽  
Transit Service

Cable-propelled transit’ (CPT), in particular detachable aerial ropeways are widely employed as transportation systems in alpine areas. In recent years, these transport systems have also been increasingly used in urban areas and are no longer a niche public transportation technology (Hoffmann 2006, Alshalalfah, Shalaby, and Dale 2014). Cable cars systems compete with performance characteristics of other more common urban transport technologies and have the potential to enhance the existing transport provision in cities (O'Connor and Dale 2011). While many applications can be found as transportation systems in airport facilities, and to provide access to tourist attractions, several metropolitan areas have even incorporated gondolas and aerial tramways into their public transport networks. This paper focuses on aerial ropeway systems that operate as a mass transit service (similar to buses, BRT, LRT, etc.) and are part of the public transit systems in their respective cities. Therefore, the analysis and case studies presented in the paper concern systems that are used as a public transit service

Analyzing Transit User Behavior with 51 Weeks of Smart Card Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 2673 (6) ◽  
pp. 33-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elodie Deschaintres ◽  
Catherine Morency ◽  
Martin Trépanier
Keyword(s):  
Smart Card ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Travel Behavior ◽  
Travel Demand ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
User Behavior ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Smart Card Data ◽  
Demand Models ◽  
The Individual

A better understanding of mobility behaviors is relevant to many applications in public transportation, from more accurate travel demand models to improved supply adjustment, customized services and integrated pricing. In line with this context, this study mined 51 weeks of smart card (SC) data from Montréal, Canada to analyze interpersonal and intrapersonal variability in the weekly use of public transit. Passengers who used only one type of product (AP − annual pass, MP − monthly pass, or TB − ticket book) over 12 months were selected, amounting to some 200,000 cards. Data was first preprocessed and summarized into card-week vectors to generate a typology of weeks. The most popular weekly patterns were identified for each type of product and further studied at the individual level. Sequences of week clusters were constructed to represent the weekly travel behavior of each user over 51 weeks. They were then segmented by type of product according to an original distance, therefore highlighting the heterogeneity between passengers. Two indicators were also proposed to quantify intrapersonal regularity as the repetition of weekly clusters throughout the weeks. The results revealed MP owners have a more regular and diversified use of public transit. AP users are mainly commuters whereas TB users tend to be more occasional transit users. However, some atypical groups were found for each type of product, for instance users with 4-day work weeks and loyal TB users.

Rural Public Transportation: Perceptions of Transit Managers, Directors of Area Agencies on Aging, and Elders

1996 ◽  
Vol 1557 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman S. J. Foster ◽  
Peter C. Damiano ◽  
Elizabeth T. Momany ◽  
Hermine T. McLeran
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Transit Service ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Transit Use ◽  
Rural Elders

Transit systems in rural areas help elders maintain contact with social services, conduct business, and visit friends. Surveys of transit managers, area agency on aging (AAA) directors, and rural elders age 75 and over in Iowa were conducted in 1993 to determine if these groups believed that there is unmet need for transit among rural elders and to assess the groups' perceptions of transit service. Transit managers and AAA directors did believe that such unmet need exists and that it is caused largely by lack of information on the part of elders' and by agencies' difficulties in identifying elders in need. One-half of rural elders who did not use transit were unaware that it was provided. The level of knowledge among women was much higher in smaller towns than in larger communities. Elders who have actually used transit have a favorable opinion of it. Transit is seen as safe and dependable. Riders consider drivers to be courteous and few report that trips take too long. The level of satisfaction reported is somewhat lower when elders are asked about transit's flexibility, scheduling, and ease of use. Few riders believe that others need transit service more than they do or report that they would rather pay others to drive them than use transit. Nonusers were relatively indifferent to these issues, perhaps indicating less opposition to potential transit use than has often been supposed. Only a small fraction of riders would support general tax increases of $25 or $50 per year to increase transit service, although this response may reveal more about perceptions of taxes than about transit.

scholarly journals Measuring Cost Variability in Provision of Transit Service

2000 ◽  
Vol 1735 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian D. Taylor ◽  
Mark Garrett ◽  
Hiroyuki Iseki
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Cost Allocation ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Allocation Model ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Capital Costs ◽  
Transit Service ◽  
Cost Variability ◽  
Time Of Travel

The cost of producing public-transit service is not uniform but varies by trip type (e.g., local or express), trip length, time of travel, and direction of travel, among other factors. However, the models employed by public-transit operators to estimate costs typically do not account for this variation. The exclusion of cost variability in most transit-cost-allocation models has long been noted in the literature, particularly with respect to time-of-day variations in costs. This analysis addresses many of the limitations of cost-allocation models typically used in practice by developing a set of models that account for marginal variations in vehicle-passenger capacity, capital costs, and time-of-day costs. FY 1994 capital and operating data are used for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). This analysis is unique in that it combines a number of previously and separately proposed improvements to cost-allocation models. In comparison with the model currently used by the Los Angeles MTA, it was found that the models developed for this analysis estimate ( a) higher peak costs and off-peak costs, ( b) significant cost variation by mode, and ( c) lower costs for incremental additions in service. The focus is on the limitations of the rudimentary cost-allocation models employed by most transit operators and not on the Los Angeles MTA per se. This analysis found that an array of factors addressed separately in the literature can be incorporated simultaneously and practically into a usable cost-allocation model to provide transit systems with far better information about the highly variable costs of producing service.

Understanding Differences in Public Transit: Comparison of Boston and Toronto

1997 ◽  
Vol 1604 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Schimek
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Operating Costs ◽  
Level Of Service ◽  
Massachusetts Bay ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Transit Service ◽  
American Cities ◽  
The City

Public transit systems in Toronto and Boston, two North American cities of similar size and income, are compared. Although Boston has a reputation as a transit-oriented city, there are about twice as many public transit trips in Toronto. Transit service in Toronto runs, on average, twice as frequently as service in Boston on a network of similar size. This level of service can be supported in part because population density does not decrease as much with increasing distance from the center of the city and because employment is more centralized. The transit system in Boston is constrained from emulating the Toronto transit system not only by a less transit-favorable distribution of population and employment but also by operating costs that are twice as high. The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority’s higher costs are the result of more fringe benefits for employees and disproportionately more managers and fixed facilities.

scholarly journals Safety and Security: Developing a Cooperative Process to Meet the Public Transportation Challenge

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Dobie ◽  
Rhonda Hensley
Keyword(s):  
Public Transportation ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Operating Environment ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Time Service ◽  
Safety Standards ◽  
The Public ◽  
Formidable Challenge ◽  
Secure Environment ◽  
Cooperative Process

Public transit systems are faced with a dual challenge in today's security-conscious operating environment. They must continue to monitor and respond to the needs of their riders by offering easy accessibility, on-time service, and adherence to the highest of safety standards. At the same time, public transit authorities must maintain a secure environment for passengers, their workforce, equipment and facilities. This presents a formidable challenge, especially for smaller transit entities with limited resources. A method for determining rider perceptions of the safety and security policies of their transit provider is presented. This provides a method for the transit provider to determine rider perceptions and identify opportunities for enhancing rider awareness. The suggested process also provides transit personnel with a means for identifying gaps in their existing safety and security procedures, leading to the ability to improve their safety and security posture.

Optimizing Public Transit Quality and System Access: The Multiple-Route, Maximal Covering/Shortest-Path Problem

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Changshan Wu ◽  
Alan T Murray
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Shortest Path ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
The United States ◽  
Path Model ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Service ◽  
Maximal Covering ◽  
Transit Ridership ◽  
Transit Agencies

Public transit service is a promising travel mode because of its potential to address urban sustainability. However, current ridership of public transit is very low in most urban regions—particularly those in the United States. Low transit ridership can be attributed to many factors, among which poor service quality is key. Transit service quality may potentially be improved by decreasing the number of service stops, but this would be likely to reduce access coverage. Improving transit service quality while maintaining adequate access coverage is a challenge facing public transit agencies. In this paper we propose a multiple-route, maximal covering/shortest-path model to address the trade-off between public transit service quality and access coverage in an established bus-based transit system. The model is applied to routes in Columbus, Ohio. Results show that it is possible to improve transit service quality by eliminating redundant or underutilized service stops.

Making the Links between Ride-hailing and Public Transit Ridership: Impacts in Medium and Large Colombian Cities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn Scholl ◽  
Felipe Bedoya-Maya ◽  
Orlando Sabogal-Cardona ◽  
Daniel Oviedo
Keyword(s):  
Public Transportation ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Transit Service ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
Transit Ridership ◽  
Key Policy ◽  
In Transit

As transit ridership continues to fall in many cities across the globe, key policy debates continue around whether Uber and other ride-hailing services are contributing to this trend. This research explores the effects of the introduction of ride-hailing to Colombian cities on public transportation ridership using Ubers timeline as case study. We test the hypothesis that ride-hailing may either substitute or compete with public transit, particularly in cities with large transit service gaps in coverage or quality. Our analysis builds on historic transit ridership data from national authorities and uses a staggered difference-in-difference model that accounts for fixed effects, seasonality, socioeconomic controls, and the presence of integrated transport systems. Despite large reductions in transit ridership in most cities, our results suggest that Uber is not statistically associated with the observed drop in ridership. Moreover, consistent with evidence from previous research, public transit reforms implemented between 2007 and 2015 throughout Colombian cities appear to have contributed substantially to the declines in transit ridership observed across the country. Findings in this paper inform policy-targeted insights and contribute to current debates of the links between ride-hailing and public transit in cities in Latin America.

scholarly journals Subways, Strikes, and Slowdowns: The Impacts of Public Transit on Traffic Congestion

2014 ◽  
Vol 104 (9) ◽  
pp. 2763-2796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Regression Discontinuity ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Choice Model ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Regression Discontinuity Design ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Transit Service ◽  
Net Benefits

Public transit accounts for 1 percent of US passenger miles traveled but attracts strong public support. Using a simple choice model, we predict that transit riders are likely to be individuals who commute along routes with severe roadway delays. These individuals' choices thus have high marginal impacts on congestion. We test this prediction with data from a strike in 2003 by Los Angeles transit workers. Estimating a regression discontinuity design, we find that average highway delay increases 47 percent when transit service ceases. We find that the net benefits of transit systems appear to be much larger than previously believed. (JEL H76, J52, L92, R41)

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