Rolling stock quality - Improvements and user willingness to pay.

This study has estimated monetary valuations of various types of rolling stock and stock related attributes in relation to each other. It has used a combination of Revealed Preference (RP) and Stated Preference (SP) methods. The estimated monetary valuations of different types of rolling stock do not vary greatly and this contrasts with most of the previous quantitative research findings in this area. The largest valuation of one stock type in relation to another was 39 pence per single trip for the comparison of Wessex electrics and Sprinters. This valuation is equivalent to 4.3% of the average fare paid. With regard to specific rolling stock attributes, this study has examined seating comfort, seating layout, ride quality, ambience, ventilation and noise. The most important attributes were found to be seating comfort, ride quality and ambience. The largest valuation obtained for seat comfort differences was 17 pence per single trip for the comparison of Networkers and Sprinters. This is equivalent to 1.9% of the average single fare. The corresponding figure for ride quality was 13 pence for the comparison of Wessex electrics and Sprinters and for ambience it was 10 pence for the comparison of Networkers and Sprinters. The maximum differences between stock types in terms of seating layout, ventilation and noise were all valued at less than five pence. The results can be generalised to stock types not covered in this research by obtaining ratings on a ten point scale of the relevant train types or specific rolling stock attributes and entering these into the estimated model

The demand for public transport: The effects of fares, quality of service, income and car ownership

This paper reports on key findings from a collaborative study whose objective was to produce an up-to-date guidance manual on the factors affecting the demand for public transport for use by public transport operators and planning authorities, and for academics and other researchers. Whilst a wide range of factors was examined in the study, the paper concentrates on the findings regarding the influence of fares, quality of service and income and car ownership. The results are a distillation and synthesis of identified published and unpublished information on the factors affecting public transport demand. The context is principally that of urban surface transport in Great Britain, but extensive use was made in the study of international sources and examples

Modeling Mode Choice in Passenger Transport with Discrete Choice Experiment

This article employs a discrete choice experiment technique to assess commuters’ attitude when they have an option of choosing a commercial vehicle from Nkrumah-Circle in Accra. This procedure with the binary probit in STATA permits the identification of the choice alternatives defining the experiment by capturing the choices of a user sample. By using the data collected from an experimental survey, a probit model was calibrated and segmented according to trip purposes; commuting and non-commuting trips. The magnitude of estimates generally indicates that commuters highly value travel safety, travel distance comfort, less waiting time, and commercial vehicles with good appearance. However, generally, an increase in transport fare will result in a disutility of commercial vehicle choice. Keywords: Commercial vehicle, commuters, discrete choice experiment, public transpor

Moving through the city with strangers? Public transport as a significant kind of urban public space

Postprin

An application of stated choice to the valuation of bus attributes: a case study of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Bus is the main mode of urban transport in most cities in developing countries. Despite a high mode share, bus service quality is often poor and para-transit services are regarded as a problem in urban transport systems rather than a solution. Using Dhaka as a case study, this thesis investigates bus service quality through identification and valuation of thirteen important attributes using discrete choice models. The attributes examined are travel time, travel cost, waiting time, headway, priority seats for women, crowding inside the bus, boarding and alighting, picking up and dropping off passengers, bus stop facilities, driving quality, driver and crew behaviour, cleanliness inside the bus, and air conditioning. Five focus groups were conducted to identify key qualitative bus attributes and their levels in order to design choice experiments for valuation. A survey of 431 respondents in Dhaka was then undertaken. Two choice experiments were designed and implemented within the survey, each with seven attributes (set A and set B) with travel cost as the common attribute. Multinomial Logit (MNL) models and Mixed Logit (MXL) models were developed using the Dhaka choice data. Twelve of the thirteen attributes were statistically significant at the 99% level. The values of in-vehicle time (IVT), waiting time and headway were BDT 34.80, 47.40 and 64.20 per hour respectively for low income groups in the segmented model. Waiting time has a premium valuation, 1.36 times higher than IVT, which endorses existing evidence. The highest valuation is for the dummy variable seating all the way which is BDT 42.20 for high income females. The next largest was bus stops properly, picks and drops passengers nicely , followed by wide door and mild steps for boarding and alighting , smooth and safe journey , bus stop with shed, but no seating arrangements , and air conditioning . The lowest value was BDT 4.61 for deck and seats are clean and tidy , for the low income group. The WTP for the qualitative attributes is high, but given the poor level of the existing service and low fare levels this seems reasonable. Income has a significant impact on travel cost, as well as gender on priority seats for women and crowding inside the bus. However, household car ownership does not have a significant impact on any of the bus attributes examined. The high income group has 75% higher WTP for A set attributes and 79% higher WTP for B set attributes than low income group. Females have 76% higher WTP for standing comfortably all the way , but 38% higher WTP for seating all the way compared to the male. However, females have a WTP of BDT 0.44 for per percent of priority seats for women in contrast with males who have a WTP of BDT -0.11. There is significant taste heterogeneity for both quantitative and qualitative attributes. The qualitative attributes for picking up and dropping off passengers, boarding and alighting facilities and driving facilities have higher valuation and this attributes came from the existing within the market competition structure in a highly fragmented bus market. Therefore, it is recommended to introduce competition for the market and incentives for bus industry consolidation

Bus rapid transit

Effective public transit is central to development. For the vast majority of developing city residents, public transit is the only practical means to access employment, education, and public services, especially when such services are beyond the viable distance of walking or cycling. Unfortunately, the current state of public transit services in developing cities often does little to serve the actual mobility needs of the population. Bus services are too often unreliable, inconvenient and dangerous. In response, transport planners and public officials have sometimes turned to extremely costly mass transit alternatives such as rail-based metros. Due to the high costs of rail infrastructure, cities can only construct such systems over a few kilometres in a few limited corridors. The result is a system that does not meet the broader transport needs of the population. Nevertheless, the municipality ends up with a long-term debt that can affect investment in more pressing areas such as health, education, water, and sanitation. However, there is an alternative between poor public transit service and high municipal debt. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) can provide high-quality, metro-like transit service at a fraction of the cost of other options. This document provides municipal officials, non-governmental organizations, consultants, and others with an introduction to the concept of BRT as well as a step-by-step process for successfully planning a BRT system

The development of a model for predicting passenger acceptance of short-haul air transportation systems

Meaningful criteria and methodology for assessing, particularly in the area of ride quality, the potential acceptability to the traveling public of present and future transportation systems were investigated. Ride quality was found to be one of the important variables affecting the decision of users of air transportation, and to be influenced by several environmental factors, especially motion, noise, pressure, temperature, and seating. Models were developed to quantify the relationship of subjective comfort to all of these parameters and then were exercised for a variety of situations. Passenger satisfaction was found to be strongly related to ride quality and was so modeled. A computer program was developed to assess the comfort and satisfaction levels of passengers on aircraft subjected to arbitrary flight profiles over arbitrary terrain. A model was deduced of the manner in which passengers integrate isolated segments of a flight to obtain an overall trip comfort rating. A method was established for assessing the influence of other links (e.g., access, terminal conditions) in the overall passenger trip